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California, Washington State and New York ‘major coronavirus disasters’ as 7,000 soldiers deployed and 100M ‘stay home’
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CALIFORNIA, Washington state and New York were declared "major virus disasters" as more than 100 million Americans were told to "stay home".
President Trump made the announcements as , Delaware became the latest states to order lockdowns amid the outbreak.
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More than 7,000 National Guard soldiers were deployed across the US after the president said the country would defeat the "invisible enemy" in a press conference on Sunday.
His comments come as officials in New York, Washington state, and California scramble to stop the spread.
Trump authorized federal support for governors' use of the National Guard in all three states, confirming that FEMA would fund "100 percent of the emergency assistance activities, as per a White House press release.
Chief of the National Guard Bureau Gen. Joseph Lengyel addressed the news on Twitter.
"Tonight more than 7,000 Guard members are supporting the whole-of-America response to COVID-19, and our nation is grateful to every one of you," he said, adding that they were here for the "long haul."
"This historic event is being met with a historic response by the National Guard and the local, state and federal partners we support," Lengyel added.
During Sunday's conference, Trump reassured people who felt lonely in self-isolation, saying the country was "all joined together as one people" with a "shared national spirit."
"No American is alone as long as we are united," he told reporters, citing the emergency supplies en route to the three hard-hit states.
He confirmed the USNS Mercy would also be deployed to LA because California's need for beds was five times more than that of Washington state.
Trump also revealed the USNS Comfort will arrive in New York in about three weeks to provide support as he said even the cruise ship may be used in the ongoing war against the virus.
No American is alone as long as we are united.
Donald Trump
The president was full of praise for New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and California Governor Gavin Newsom, who he described as "total gentlemen."
"It‘s going to be a great victory ... that will happen much sooner than originally expected," said Trump, who referred to coronavirus as the "Chinese Virus" during his address.
"I'm a little upset with China," he added, saying they should have alerted the US sooner and revealing he offered to send people there to help.
Trump said the emergency aid package being hashed out between senators was close to a resolution as before it failed to pass the Senate floor this evening.
Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams also emphasized that everyone should be tested, including illegal immigrants.
Pence - who tested negative this morning - emphasized that customs and border protection authorities don't target emergency rooms.
"If that's not the policy, I'll make it the policy," Trump said. "Yes, we will test that [illegal] person."
Pence said they will be caught up on a backlog of testing by the end of the week after a 45-minute test was revealed yesterday.
"[Pence's wife] handled it better than him," Trump quipped, before joking about his own testing experience, saying "I didn’t handle it so well either!"
The update comes after and led the way with the "stay at home"; orders, with , and following suit as the US death toll hit 400 today.
New York was also described as a "major disaster" zone on Friday before California was approved to declare the same declaration on Sunday.
This means more than 101 million are now living in a disaster zone.
The three declarations will help out the struggling recovery efforts in the areas and communities that have been ravaged by the killer coronavirus.
Crisis counseling will also be available through this Federal assistance funding for people who have been traumatized by the ongoing outbreak, which first emerged in Wuhan, .
Cuomo said a "pause" order would be in effect in the Big Apple from 8 pm tonight after 114 deaths as infections soar past the 15,000 mark.
He estimated that around could catch the virus and the dire situation may extend as long as nine months.
Elsewhere, Washington state and California have been similarly hard-hit during the coronavirus crisis, with 96 and 27 fatalities respectively.
The death toll is also mounting in New Jersey and Louisiana who have had 20 fatalities each this week.
Ohio natives will be staying home to flatten the curve after Governor Mike DeWine's announcement. Likewise, down in Louisiana Governor Edwards also issued a "stay at home" order to combat the rapid spread.
Edwards said the southern state would be in "deep trouble" if residents "demand enforcement" under the order in effect until at least April 12 after 20 deaths in-state.
Delaware Governor John Carney also urged residents to stay home from 9am on Tuesday until May 15.
The emergency measures in these states come as the virus rapidly spread around the country, infecting over 32,000 Americans as of March 22.
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The drastic action comes as the , with recent figures showing the country has the of confirmed cases in the world.
As of today, only coronavirus epicenter China (81,397 cases) and hard-hit Italy (59,138) surpass the US in terms of infection rates.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin warned that the lockdown, currently impacting millions of people across the country, could last 12 weeks.
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