Washington DC: US President Donald Trump announced that he is declaring the Coronavirus pandemic a National Emergency, as Washington struggles with providing Americans with relief and officials race to slow the spread of the outbreak. 

Trump made the announcement on Friday, freeing up 50 billion dollars in federal funds for the battle against Coronavirus pandemic as he vowed to “vastly” ramp up testing capacity. 

“To unleash the full power of the Federal Government, I’m officially declaring a National Emergency,” Trump told a news conference on the White House lawn. “The next 8 weeks are critical. We can learn and we will turn a corner on this virus,” he said.

Trump called on all US States to set up emergency operation centres and said the Government was partnering with the private sector to “vastly increase and accelerate our capacity to test” for the virus, amid criticism about a lack of test kits Nationwide. “I’m also asking every hospital in this country to activate emergency preparedness plan to meet the needs of Americans everywhere,” Trump said.