Trump issues emergency declaration for coronavirus pandemic

Photo by Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images President Donald Trump declared a federal state of emergency as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread throughout the US. The move frees up additional funding that will allow the government to address the effects of the pandemic. “I am officially declaring a national emergency,” Trump said today. “Two very big words.” Emergency declarations help governments tap into additional sources of funding during events like disease outbreaks. This is different from the public health state of emergency that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) declared at the end of January. That declaration gave HHS more flexibility to assist local and state health departments and modify Medicare and Medicaid requirements, among other powers. T... Continue reading…