Trump invokes wartime act to fight coronavirus
The United States has sent its two military hospital ships to the New York harbor and the West Coast, as cases of the fast-spreading coronavirus rose to more than 7,000 and deaths climbed to more than 100 in the U.S, and as the Trump administration took unprecedented measures to battle the outbreak.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:
"We'll be invoking the Defense Production Act... "
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump took the extraordinary step of putting in place a law that will allow the government to speed production of masks, respirators, ventilators and other equipment needs.
And after initially down playing the virus, Trump said the unfolding crisis had basically made him a “war-time president.”
(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:
"Every generation of Americans has been called to make sacrifices for the good of the nation. In World War II young people in their teenage years volunteered to fight, they wanted to fight so badly because they love our country. [FLASH] And now it is our time. We must sacrifice together because we are all in this together. We'll come through together."
Trump's coronavirus response coordinator on Wednesday said younger people in France and Italy are falling seriously ill from the virus, a worrying development that suggests young adults are more susceptible to becoming sick than previously thought.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE COORDINATOR DR. DEBORAH BIRX, SAYING:
"It may have been that the millennial generation - our largest generation, our future generation that will carry us through for the next multiple decades - there may be a disproportional number of infections among that group.”
Meanwhile, thousands of partying American college students who made their annual pilgrimage to Florida for spring break were not opting for social distancing.
In Miami, bars, restaurants and nightclubs were shut down and the city declared it illegal for more than 10 people to gather together.
But one student from Ohio vowed to keep partying.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) BRADY SLUDER, SPRING-BREAKER FROM OHIO, SAYING ON MARCH 17, 2020:
"If I get corona, I get corona. At the end of the day, I'm not going to let it stop me from partying."
(SOUNDBITE) (English) MIAMI MAYOR FRANCIS SUAREZ, SAYING:
"We must respect social distancing."
The mayor of Miami, who himself tested positive for coronavirus last week, said on Wednesday in a video journal documenting his ordeal that gathering in groups was the wrong idea.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) MIAMI MAYOR FRANCIS SUAREZ, SAYING:
"My symptoms are still mild. I basically feel like I'm getting a cold or if I have a cold but nothing more severe than that, which I think is a very, very good reason why people who are asymptomatic should respect social distancing and should actually stay home..."
Young people are considered key transmitters of the virus, which can be passed along even with mild or no symptoms.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) NEVADA GOVERNOR STEVE SISOLAK, SAYING:
"You're being told not to go out. You're being told not to go out."
The governor of Nevada, home to Las Vegas - another hotspot for tourists - effectively shut down the entire leisure industry overnight. The sector employs 355,000 people - a quarter of all jobs in the state.
And, in Detroit, the nation's largest automakers - GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler - said they will temporarily shut down their U.S. plants to help stop the spread of coronavirus, bowing to pressure from the union representing about 150,000 hourly workers.
