WASHINGTON, Feb 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US government is considering asking legislators for emergency funding to ramp up its response to the fast-spreading coronavirus, a White House spokesman said.
“We need some funding here to make sure that we … protect all Americans, that we keep us safe,” White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said.
Asked how much funding the administration may ask Congress to approve, Gidley said that there was no announcement yet on the amount.
Politico and the Washington Post, citing unnamed individuals familiar with the planning, had reported the administration may request one billion dollars in funding from the US Congress.
However, an administration official said the amount was still being finalised, and the request could go to legislators this week.
The official said US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar was seeking an amount that some within the administration viewed as out of proportion, given the limited number of US cases and other HHS funding that has not yet been used.
The United States has not seen the kind of community spread that has hit China, but health officials are preparing for such a possibility even as those Americans affected so far have been quarantined.
There have been 13 cases of people diagnosed with the virus in the US and 21 cases among Americans repatriated on evacuation flights from the virus epicentre of Wuhan, China, as well as from a cruise ship in Japan, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
US President Donald Trump has tapped Azar to lead a taskforce coordinating the response to the outbreak that the department has declared a public health emergency.
The administration is grappling with where to send Americans evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship who tested positive for the virus after backing off plans to quarantine them in a federal facility in Alabama.
In a statement on Monday, HHS cited a “rapidly evolving situation,” but said the Alabama centre was “not needed at this time” and that it was looking for alternatives.
