This Sept 16, 2018 photo shows the White House in Washington, DC. (MANDEL NGAN / AFP)
WASHINGTON/TENERIFE/AMSTERDAM/DUESSELDORF/PARIS/HELSINKI/VILNIUS/MOSCOW/MEXICO CITY/PARIS/LONDON/ABUJA/ZURICH - US President Donald Trump’s administration is considering invoking special powers through a law called the Defense Production Act to rapidly expand domestic manufacturing of protective masks and clothing to combat the coronavirus in the United States, two US officials told Reuters.
The use of the law, passed by Congress in 1950 at the outset of the Korean War, would mark an escalation of the administration’s response to the outbreak.
The Defense Production Act grants the president the power to expand industrial production of key materials or products for national security and other reasons
US health officials have told Americans to begin preparing for the spread of the virus in the United States.
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The law grants the president the power to expand industrial production of key materials or products for national security and other reasons. The biggest producers of face masks in the United States include 3M Corp and Honeywell International Inc.
Trump, a Republican seeking re-election on Nov 3, has faced criticism from Democrats over his administration’s response to the outbreak.
US Vice-President Mike Pence said Thursday the threat from coronavirus to the American public "remains low", and the White House has begun discussions with leaders of the US Congress on a supplemental spending bill to fighting the spread of COVID-19.
“In the days ahead we’re going to make sure that the full resources of the federal government continue to be brought to bear in confronting the coronavirus here at home,” Pence said.
READ MORE: US prepares for coronavirus pandemic, Italy reports 1st death
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar told lawmakers this week that the United States needs a stockpile of about 300 million N95 face masks - respiratory protective devices - for medical workers to combat the spread of the virus. The United States currently has a stockpile of around 12 million of the N95 masks that are in line with certifications from the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Azar testified. In addition to those masks, the US government has a stockpile of 30 million “gauze type” surgical masks.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said earlier this week that the United States needs a stockpile of about 300 million N95 face masks for medical workers to combat the spread of the virus
During an interagency call on Wednesday, officials from HHS and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) discussed the possibility of invoking the Defense Production Act for the manufacture of “personal protective equipment” that can be worn to prevent infection, according to a DHS official.
Such equipment can include masks, gloves and body suits.
A White House official confirmed that the administration was exploring the use of the law to spur manufacturing of protective gear. Both the DHS and White House officials requested anonymity to discuss the issue.
On Wednesday, Trump said that the coronavirus risk to the United States remained “very low,” but that federal health officials were prepared to take action and that Vice-President Mike Pence would take control of the US response.
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Invoking the Defense Production Act is one of a number of options under consideration by the administration to combat the virus, the officials said, and no final decision has been made. Trump invoked the law in 2017 to address technological shortfalls in a vaccine production capability and other items such as microelectronics.
‘US spy agencies monitoring virus spread’
US intelligence agencies are monitoring the global spread of coronavirus and the ability of governments to respond, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
Another source said US agencies were also concerned about the weak ability of governments in some developing countries to respond to an outbreak.
“The Committee has received a briefing from the IC (intelligence community) on coronavirus, and continues to receive updates on the outbreak on a daily basis,” an official of theUS House of Representatives Intelligence Committee told Reuters.
The role of US intelligence agencies in responding to the coronavirus epidemic at this point principally involves monitoring the spread of the illness around the world and assessing the responses of governments.
Meanwhile, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Robert Redfield told the US Congress on Thursday that his agency was aggressively evaluating how long coronavirus can survive and be infectious on surfaces.
A woman wearing face mask is seen with her husband outside the Vacaville City Hall in Vacaville, California, Feb 27, 2019. (DON THOMPSON / AP)
California monitoring 8,400 people for possible coronavirus
California is monitoring more than 8,400 people who arrived on commercial flights for coronavirus symptoms from “points of concern,” but the state lacks test kits and has been held back by federal testing rules, Governor Gavin Newsom said on Thursday.
California has only 200 test kits, but has appealed for testing protocols to be expanded to include Americans who may catch the virus as it spreads through US communities, Newsom told a news briefing in Sacramento, the state capital.
California on Wednesday reported a coronavirus case of unknown origin, making it potentially the first incident of the virus spreading within US communities.
Nigeria, Lithuania, Belarus each report 1st case
An Italian man who arrived in Nigeria three days ago has become the African country’s first case of coronavirus, the health minister said on Friday.
Health Minister Osagie Ehanire, in a statement, said the case involves an Italian citizen who works in Nigeria and returned from Milan, Italy, to Lagos Feb 25.
Ehanire said the case was not detected at the airport, and the man traveled through Lagos before he took ill and went to a hospital. The man did not show any symptoms when the plane landed.
An Italian man who returned from Milan to Lagos on Tuesday was confirmed as Nigeria’s first case of coronavirus, the country's health minister said
Nigeria's Health Ministry said the infection was confirmed on Thursday.
Authorities are now working to “meet and observe” all those who were on the flight with him, and are also identifying all the people he met and places he visited in Lagos, a city of some 20 million people, before reporting to the hospital.
Separately, Lithuania also reported its first infection on Friday, in a woman who returned this week from a visit to Italy’s northern city of Verona, the government said.
In a statement, the Lithuanian government said the stricken woman had been isolated in hospital in the northern town of Siauliai, following her return on Monday.
The woman, aged 39, was attending a conference with colleagues in Italy before flying to the southern city of Kaunas, Health Minister Aurelijus Veryga said at a late night news conference, in video images posted on Lithuanian news websites.
Meanwhile, Belarus registered the first case of infection in the country, Russian news agency TASS reported on Friday, citing the Belarussian Ministry of Healthcare.
“We would like to inform you that February 27 tests conducted at the Republican Scientific and Practical Center of epidemiology and microbiology showed the presence of coronavirus 2019-nCoV in one of the students from Iran,” TASS quoted the minister as saying.
2nd case in Netherlands
A new case of coronavirus has been confirmed in the Netherlands, health officials said on Friday, this time in the Dutch capital Amsterdam.
The first Dutch case was confirmed in the southern city of Tilburg late on Thursday. Both had recently traveled in Northern Italy.
The new case “has no link to the first patient,” the National Institute for Public Health said in a statement. Both patients are being held in isolation.
Health personnel in protective gear assist guests as they leave the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in La Caleta, in the Canary Island of Tenerife, Spain, Feb 28, 2020. (JOAN MATEU / AP)
Some guests seen leaving Tenerife hotel
A small group of guests out of 130 cleared to leave the Tenerife hotel in its fourth day of quarantine over the coronavirus could be seen boarding a minibus on Friday, a video recorded by one of the remaining guests showed.
The minibus driver told Reuters earlier he was there to pick guests up. It was not clear where they were being taken.
Half a dozen guests including a baby in a pram exited the H10 Costa Adeje Palace south of Tenerife, and underwent temperature scans and disinfection in the back of the hotel before boarding a 15-seater minibus, the video showed.
The Canary Islands regional government on Thursday said it had cleared 130 guests to leave the hotel placed on lockdown after four cases of the coronavirus were detected there but others showed no symptom of illness.
In total, over 700 holidaymakers were in isolation there.
British man who was on Diamond Princess ship in Japan dies
A British man who was infected by the coronavirus on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan has died, bringing the death toll among people who were aboard the vessel to six, Japan’s government said on Friday.
He was the first foreigner from the ship to die, according to Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. It did not provide his name or age.
Mexico confirms first case
Mexican authorities said on Friday they have confirmed the first case of coronavirus in Mexico, in what is only the second case in Latin America.
A patient with a possible coronavirus infection went through a second test that turned up positive results early on Friday, Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell Ramirez told reporters.
READ MORE: Brazil confirms Latin America's first infection as Italy reels
The man had recently been to northern Italy and has been placed in isolation, Lopez-Gatell said.
Switzerland cancels big events
Switzerland on Friday banned large events expected to draw more than 1,000 people as an extraordinary measure to curb the coronavirus epidemic.
“Large-scale events involving more than 1,000 people are to be banned. The ban comes into immediate effect and will apply at least until 15 March,” the cabinet said after a meeting.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Switzerland has risen to 15, and more than 100 people are in quarantine, government minister Alain Berset said.
“We have the situation under control, but this can change very quickly,” he said, adding the ban would certainly hit the Swiss economy.
As the outbreak spread, the canton of Basel-City put a number of children into a two-week quarantine on Thursday after one of their caregivers tested positive for the virus.
1 case reported in Nice
A case of coronavirus has been diagnosed in the southern French city of Nice, involving a woman who had recently returned from Milan, said Mayor Christian Estrosi, the mayor of Nice, on his Twitter account Friday.
On Thursday, the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in France had more than doubled in 24 hours, the French Health minister said on Thursday, with the tally rising to 38 from 18 on Wednesday.
During a press conference, Olivier Veran said this “sharp increase” was due to the identification of so-called “contact persons” linked to previously known cases, adding France was “ready” for an epidemic.
The Health Ministry's director Jerome Salomon later said that out of the 38 cases, two people had died, 12 were cured and 24 were hospitalized, two of those being in a “serious condition”.
German states report 22 new cases
Six western German states reported a total of 22 new cases of the coronavirus on Thursday, a day after the federal health minister said the country is at the start of an epidemic.
In North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state, the health ministry said 14 more people tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday in the Heinsberg area, taking the tally in the Heinsberg area to 20.
In Hamburg, Hesse, Bavaria, and Rhineland-Palatinate, one case was reported, respectively. Baden-Wuerttemberg reported four new cases, taking its total to eight.
Finland allocates US$9.8m to fight coronavirus
The Finnish government is setting up a coordination group and allocating an initial 8.9 million euros (US$9.79 million) for the control of the novel coronavirus, government officials said a press conference Thursday.
The group will consist of officials from the relevant ministries and experts from the National Institute for Health and Welfare.
In addition to the initial fund, the government is prepared to cover any additional costs generated by the novel coronavirus through the supplementary budget procedure if necessary, according to a press release issued by the government on the same day.
Romania confirms two more cases
Romania confirmed two more cases of coronavirus on Friday, raising the total number of cases to three since Wednesday, Deputy Health Minister Nelu Tataru.
“They are a 45-year-old man from the county of Maramures and a 38-year-old woman from (the western city of) Timisoara. They both tested positive for the virus,” Tataru told reporters. “They recently returned from Italy.”
Moscow deports 88 foreigners for violating coronavirus quarantine
Moscow authorities are deporting 88 foreign nationals who violated quarantine measures imposed on them as a precaution against coronavirus, the RIA news agency cited Moscow’s deputy mayor as saying on Friday.
Hundreds of people have been quarantined in Russia to stop the virus spreading. Moscow authorities have carried out raids on potential carriers of the virus - individuals at their homes or hotels - and used facial recognition technology to enforce quarantine measures.
With Xinhua inputs
