Speaking at Monday’s Coronavirus Task Force briefing at the White House, Mr\nTrump said: “We have now 10 companies at least making the ventilators, and\nwe say go ahead because, honestly, other countries – they’ll never be able to\ndo it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked whether there would be enough ventilators for all patients in the US\nwho needed them during a predicted peak in infections in two weeks’ time, Mr\nTrump responded: “I think we’re going to be in a very good shape.” He\nsaid more than a million Americans had been tested for the virus, “more\nthan any other country by far. Not even close”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He accused a reporter who pointed out that South Korea had tested\nproportionally more people when measured by population size of negativity. He\nadded that he should be congratulated on his administration’s progress in\nfighting the virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Trump also repeated his allegations that some US state governors were\n“hoarding” critical medical equipment, and that items including face\nmasks were being stolen from hospitals. He gave no evidence for either claim. Mr\nTrump said “challenging times are ahead for the next 30 days”, but\nthat social distancing could save more than a million American lives. “We\nwill have a great victory,” he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked by a CNN correspondent whether his previous comments downplaying the\nthreat of the outbreak were wrong, the president responded that they were\n“all true”. “I don’t want panic in the country. I could cause\npanic much better than even you,” he told the reporter. Mr Trump has been\naccused of slowness in implementing measures to stem the spread of the virus as\nhe feared the economic impact could hurt his re-election prospects later this\nyear. “The economy is number two on my list, we’re going to save a lot of\nlives,” he insisted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What’s the situation in the US?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Nationwide guidelines being implemented by many states say citizens must\ncontinue to avoid non-essential travel, going to work, and eating at\nrestaurants or bars. Gatherings are limited to groups of under 10 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But stricter restrictions apply to millions in some of the worst-hit\nstates. On Saturday residents of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut were\nadvised not to travel elsewhere within the country for 14 days. Non-essential\ngatherings in New York City are banned and most businesses are closed as the\ncity faces more than 33,000 cases. Police can issue fines of $250-500\n(\u00a3200-\u00a3400). In California, a “shelter in place” order remains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What about the shortage of equipment?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The availability of ventilators is a major concern among health\nprofessionals as demand has surged. A number of states and cities have warned\nthat they will soon not have enough to treat patients suffering from Covid-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last week, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said key medical supplies\ncould run out at the start of April. Warning have also been made by governors\nAndrew Cuomo, of New York, and John Bel Edwards, of Louisiana. Earlier on\nSunday, Mr Trump accused hospitals in some states of “hoarding” ventilators,\nface masks and other critical medical supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We do have a problem with hoarding… including ventilators.\nHospitals need to release them – in some cases they have too many, they have to\nrelease medical supplies and equipment,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hospitals “can’t hold [ventilators] if they think there might be a\nproblem weeks down the road”, he said, alleging that some were\n“stocked up”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" BBC Donald Trump has said the US will be in “a very good shape” in terms of the number of ventilators available by the time the coronavirus outbreak peaks. The president said at least 10…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[74,239],"class_list":["post-988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-coronavirus","tag-us"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/towncryyers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/coronavirus-us-cases-map-promo-1583277425489-superJumbo-v161.png?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n