Watch live: President Trump and members of the coronavirus task force hold news conference
Desperate to stanch anxieties in the stock market and public fears that the White House is unprepared for a major coronavirus outbreak, President Trump blamed Democrats and the media Wednesday for stoking panic even as his administration faces increased bipartisan concern over its disjointed response.for weeks, announced plans to hold a news conference Wednesday night with federal health officials in an attempt to reassure Americans and to calm stock markets, which have plunged more than 6.
Allies counseled Trump to put his political and economic frustrations aside to focus on the public health threat, arguing that ancillary problems will fix themselves once the public is convinced the administration is prepared for what may prove a significant crisis. Tom Ridge, who served as the nation’s first Homeland Security secretary under President Bush and co-chairs a bipartisan commission on bio-defense, faulted Trump for his breezy response to the threat and Democrats for what he called their “sky is falling” complaints.
More than half of Americans expressed concern that there will be a widespread U.S. outbreak of coronavirus, according toMore than four in 10 said they were concerned that they or someone in their family will get sick from the virus. Alex Azar, the secretary of Health and Human Services, testified on Capitol Hill for the second day and told a House subcommittee that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States is now 60.
While Trump has tried to ease public concerns over the coronavirus, he fanned public panic over Ebola, claiming at the time that the Obama administration lied about the danger. He repeatedly urged officials to bar U.S. health workers and others who had contracted the virus overseas from returning home for treatment.
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