The United States will invoke special powers to boost production of masks, gloves, gowns and other items to protect against the new coronavirus, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has said. The Trump administration has been criticised by Democrats for its preparations. With more countries reporting new infections and companies starting to curtail employees' travel, health officials scrambled to deal with the prospect of a widening outbreak in the United States. "We will use the Defense Production Act as necessary to enable that our contracts go to the front of the line," Azar said in a briefing at the White House. "That is an authority that we have, and we will use it to acquire anything we need to acquire." The number of confirmed U.S. cases of the respiratory disease is still relatively small at around 60, most of them repatriated American passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Japan, but there are growing fears that the country is on the cusp of wider outbreak. Of the confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States, only one patient is still in the hospital, US Vice President Mike Pence said on Friday. Meanwhile, a tenth case of coronavirus has been confirmed in California, health officials from Santa Clara County said on Friday. The outbreak started in China late last year. The latest World Health Organization (WHO) figures indicate over 82,000 people have been infected, with more than 2,700 deaths in China and 57 deaths in 46 other countries. Anthony Fauci, a doctor who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a closed-door briefing in the U.S. House of Representatives that the sustained spread of the coronavirus meant there would be many more infections in the United States, according to a source. Fauci warned lawmakers the country did not have enough testing resources, the source said on condition of anonymity. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it has revised its criteria for who should be tested and is ramping up testing capabilities. "Our goal is to have every state and local health department online and doing their own testing by the end of next week," CDC official Nancy Messonier told reporters. A vaccine may take up to 18 months to develop, health officials have said. Trump this week said the coronavirus risk to Americans remained "very low," but he has been increasingly alarmed by the reaction of the US stock market, which he considers a barometer of the economy's health and sees as important to his re-election in November. Australian Associated Press
The US will invoke special powers to boost production of protective equipment against coronavirus.
The United States will invoke special powers to boost production of masks, gloves, gowns and other items to protect against the new coronavirus, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has said.
The Trump administration has been criticised by Democrats for its preparations.
With more countries reporting new infections and companies starting to curtail employees' travel, health officials scrambled to deal with the prospect of a widening outbreak in the United States.
"We will use the Defense Production Act as necessary to enable that our contracts go to the front of the line," Azar said in a briefing at the White House.
"That is an authority that we have, and we will use it to acquire anything we need to acquire."
The number of confirmed U.S. cases of the respiratory disease is still relatively small at around 60, most of them repatriated American passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Japan, but there are growing fears that the country is on the cusp of wider outbreak.
Of the confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States, only one patient is still in the hospital, US Vice President Mike Pence said on Friday.
Meanwhile, a tenth case of coronavirus has been confirmed in California, health officials from Santa Clara County said on Friday.
The outbreak started in China late last year. The latest World Health Organization (WHO) figures indicate over 82,000 people have been infected, with more than 2,700 deaths in China and 57 deaths in 46 other countries.
Anthony Fauci, a doctor who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a closed-door briefing in the U.S. House of Representatives that the sustained spread of the coronavirus meant there would be many more infections in the United States, according to a source.
Fauci warned lawmakers the country did not have enough testing resources, the source said on condition of anonymity.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it has revised its criteria for who should be tested and is ramping up testing capabilities.
"Our goal is to have every state and local health department online and doing their own testing by the end of next week," CDC official Nancy Messonier told reporters.
A vaccine may take up to 18 months to develop, health officials have said.
Trump this week said the coronavirus risk to Americans remained "very low," but he has been increasingly alarmed by the reaction of the US stock market, which he considers a barometer of the economy's health and sees as important to his re-election in November.
