Fact Check: Trump addresses nation on coronavirus

President Donald Trump and top U.S. health officials addressed the nation Wednesday evening as governments worldwide worked to combat the spread of the new coronavirus. Their comments came as the U.S. saw its first instance of infection in a person without relevant travel history or exposure to another patient known to have the virus.

With more than 81,300 cases worldwide and spreading rapidly beyond China to South Korea, Italy and Iran, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Tuesday the virus would spread in the United States and cause "severe" disruptions across the country.

At a news conference the same day in India, President Donald Trump tried to tamp down concerns, saying the virus was "very well under control in our country." The White House requested $2.5 billion in emergency funding this week to combat the outbreak, but congressional Democrats slammed the request as "woefully insufficient."

Here's what the president said Wednesday evening, and what the facts are.

'There’s a chance that it won’t spread' 

Minutes after Trump downplayed the risk of coronavirus spreading in the United States, California confirmed a new case that might be the nation’s first example of a non travel-related case of coronavirus.

"There’s a chance that it could get worse,” Trump said. “There’s a chance that it could get fairly, substantially worse. But I don’t think it’s inevitable ... there’s a chance that it won’t spread."  

Publish : 2020-02-28 00:49:11

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