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Friday, March 29, 2024

Coronavirus has 'got the world aflutter': Trump

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Coronavirus has 'got the world aflutter': Trump
Coronavirus has 'got the world aflutter': Trump

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that six to eight weeks ago no one had heard of the coronavirus, but now it's 'got the world aflutter'.

Trump added that the emergency measure to battle the spreading coronavirus would appropriate about $8.5 billion - far above the $2.5 billion he initially requested last month.

The U.S. Congress and President Donald Trump on Wednesday were coalescing around emergency legislation to battle the spreading coronavirus with as much as $9 billion in new funding that would immediately be available to stem a health crisis.

At the National Association of Counties Legislative Conference on Tuesday, Trump said the measure would appropriate about $8.5 billion - far above the $2.5 billion he initially requested last month.

And House of Representatives Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, noting that the measure was still being written in Congress, said it could inject "$8 or $9 billion" into the U.S. economy.

Hoyer, who is in charge of scheduling debate of legislation on the House floor, said he was aiming for passage on Wednesday so that it could promptly be sent to the Senate for final approval, possibly this week.

The legislation is one part of a multipronged approach emerging from Washington following multiple deaths in Washington state this week from illnesses caused by the highly contagious coronavirus.

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