Trump news: President declares national emergency over coronavirus and calls on hospitals to activate emergency plans

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Trump accused of 'fountain of nonsense' over coronavirus as approval rating falls

Donald Trump has seen his approval rating fall as he remains under intense pressure over the US response to the global coronavirus pandemic, with MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow telling the nation: “At the top of the federal government right now, it is a fountain of nonsense.”

In the latest YouGovUS/Yahoo News poll, a huge 52 per cent of respondents said they did not approve of his handling of the crisis.

With the world struggling to keep up with the rapid pace of developments, it was Maddow who spoke for the nation last night: 

Nancy Pelosi says aid package agreement with White House near

As House speaker Nancy Pelosi says Congress is close to agreeing a deal on a comprehensive aid package with the White House, covering mandatory sick pay and ensuring testing remains to citizens, representatives on Capitol Hill are continuing to express concerns about the messaging being put out by the Trump administration on testing.

"It's fair to say we're close to an agreement, subject to the exchange of paper, and hope to have an agreement tomorrow," the speaker told reporters just outside her office in the Capitol.

“One way or another,” she said, there will be a vote Friday.

Pelosi has been locked in talks with Trump's Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin over the formulation of a bipartisan stimulus bill assured of safe passage through the House and Senate, with pressure mounting as countries around the world enter shutdown mode, closing schools, restaurants, small businesses and entire sports leagues in a bid to contain the contagion.

“We’ve resolved most of our differences, and those we haven’t we’ll continue the conversation, because there will obviously be other bills,” she said.

Meanwhile, her colleagues in DC have been expressing their frustration about the Trump administration's communication on the crisis.

North Carolina Republican Mark Walker told CNN there is "a growing frustration among members as a whole to get more definitive answers".

"I don't think anyone is going to leave that briefing satisfied with what's going on with testing right now... bottom line, you leave that briefing and we are not where we need to be and not sure when we are going to get there. We are flying blind,” added Democrat Mike Quigley.

Lindsey Graham self-quarantining after Mar-a-Lago stay

South Carolina GOP senator and Trump ally Lindsey Graham has announced he is going into self-quarantine after coming into contact with a Brazilian official who has since tested positive for Covid-19 at Trump’s Florida resort Mar-a-Lago, as the president himself continues to insist he is “not concerned”.

Here he is just one earlier talking down the seriousness of the outbreak on Fox with Sean Hannity.

The official in question, Fabio Wajngarten, is being treated while his boss, Jair Bolsonaro, is being "monitored".

Conrad Duncan has this report.

Joe Biden: 'Public fears being compounded by pervasive lack of trust in this president'

The Democratic front-runner unveiled his own plan to combat the coronavirus spread following Trump's dramatic announcement of a ban on all travel from Europe despite warnings from public health officials that a surge of community infections within the US is inevitable.

Offering the White House his campaign's own plan to face the outbreak, the former vice president and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate called for increased transparency, including daily updates of the number of Covid-19 tests performed, as well as positive diagnoses, and for the installation of at least 10 mobile testing and drive-though sites in each state.

Biden called the lack of a comprehensive federal paid sick leave policy a "national disgrace" as millions of American workers could face cut hours or layoffs and quarantines that could significantly impact their incomes.

He said the president's recently announced plans to combat the virus shouldn't "fall back on xenophobia" after  Trump called the flu-like respiratory illness a "foreign virus" in his Wednesday night address to the nation.

"Downplaying it or being overly dismissive or spreading misinformation is only going to hurt us and further advantage of the spread of disease", Biden said on Thursday.

"Neither should we panic or fall back on xenophobia. Labelling it a 'foreign virus' does not displace accountability for the misjudgements that have been taken thus far from the Trump administration."

"Public fears are being compounded by a pervasive lack of trust in this president, fueled by the adversarial relationship with the truth he continues to have," he added.

Here's Alex Woodward's report.

Japan rebuffs president after he calls for Olympic Games postponement

Trump's suggestion the Tokyo Olympics should be postponed for a year because of the spreading coronavirus was immediately shot down by Japan's Olympic minister.

“The [International Olympic Committee] and the organising committee are not considering cancellation or a postponement - absolutely not at all,” Seiko Hashimoto, an Olympic bronze medallist and the Japanese government's minister responsible for the games, told a news conference on Friday in Tokyo.

The IOC and Tokyo organisers have stayed on message since the viral outbreak in China three months ago spread across Asia and then the globe: The games will open as schedule on 24 July.

“I just can't see having no people there. In other words, not allowing people,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday. “Maybe, and this is just my idea, maybe they postpone it for a year.”

US carries out retaliatory airstrikes in Iraq after two Americans and a Briton killed

US forces have carried out airstrikes near Baghdad in retaliation for a rocket attack that killed two Americans and a Briton on Wednesday, the Pentagon has confirmed.

In a statement, the Defence Department said the targets had been five weapon storage facilities run by Kataib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Shia militia, and that the weapons would have been used to target US and coalition troops.

On Thursday the Pentagon said it believed that groups backed by Tehran were behind this week's rocket attack on Camp Taji, near the Iraqi capital, which also wounded 14 people.

Phil Thomas has this report.

US coronavirus testing not working as it should be, claims top health official Dr Fauci, as California complains of incomplete kits

  The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has admitted America is failing on coronavirus testing – contradicting claims by Donald Trump that testing is going well.

Speaking at a House hearing concerning Covid-19 on Thursday, Dr Anthony Fauci said that the country’s health system had hindered widespread tests.

“The system is not really geared to what we need right now,” said Dr Fauci, “that is a failing. Let’s admit it.”

Answering questions from congresowman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, he said that the country was not prepared for the level of testing needed.

“The idea of anybody getting it easily the way people in other countries are doing it, we’re not set up for that,” he said. “Do I think we should be? Yes. But we’re not.”​

Dr Fauci's testimony came as California governor Gavin Newsom complained that his state had been given incomplete testing kits.

“I continue to reinforce the tests are not complete, kits all do not include re-agents, chemicals, solutions that are components,” Newsom said yesterday, adding that it was “imperative” that labs get access to “all ingredients that are components of the test.” 

“I’m surprised this is not more of the national conversation.” 

James Crump has more on this.

Trump did not push for early Covid-19 testing ‘because higher numbers would harm his re-election chances’, report says

These were the president's latest thoughts on the virus early this morning, which, naturally, saw him blaming Obama and suggesting all of the current international chaos has nothing on the swine flu pandemic of 2009.

But what a damning headline the above is, arriving with the US having still only tested fewer than 12,000 people out of a population of 327.2m.

Here's Chris Baynes with the details.

Trump and Boris Johnson's response to outbreak like ‘watching horror film’, says Italian doctor

More criticism of the American and British response to the coronavirus below from an Italian doctor who wrote anonymously for Newsweek and compared the collective blundering to watching characters in a horror film who naively “decide to take a tour of a dark basement” and fail to anticipate the danger lurking in the shadows.