WASHINGTON
(AP) — Seeking to reassure the American public, President Donald Trump
said there was “no reason to panic” as the new coronavirus claimed its
first victim inside the U.S. The White House also announced new
restrictions on international travel to prevent its spread.
Trump,
speaking Saturday only moments after the death in Washington state was
announced, took a more measured approach a day after he complained that
the virus threat was being overblown and that his political enemies were
perpetuating a “hoax.”
“This
is very serious stuff,” he said, but still insisted the criticism of
his administration’s handling of the virus outbreak was a hoax.
Trump
appeared at a hastily called news conference in the White House
briefing room with Vice President Mike Pence and top public health
officials to announce that the U.S. was banning travel to Iran and
urging Americans not to travel to regions of Italy and South Korea where
the virus has been prevalent.
He
said 22 people in the U.S. had been stricken by the new coronavirus, of
whom one had died while four were deemed “very ill.” Additional cases
were “likely,” he added.
Trump
said he was considering additional restrictions, including closing the
U.S. border with Mexico in response to the virus’ spread, but later
added: “This is not a border that seems to be much of a problem right
now.”
“We’re thinking about all borders,” he said.
Travel
to Iran is already quite limited, though some families are allowed to
travel there on a visa. It is one of the seven initial countries on
Trump’s travel ban list, which means travel from Iran also is already
severely restricted.
Robert
Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
said there was “no evidence of link to travel” abroad in the case of the
man who died. The patient was described as being in his late 50s and
having a high health risk before contracting the virus. Redfield said
the CDC mistakenly told Trump in an earlier briefing that the victim was
a woman.
On
Friday, health officials confirmed a third case of coronavirus in the
U.S. in a person who hadn’t traveled internationally or had close
contact with anyone who was known to have the virus. The U.S. has about
60 confirmed cases. Trump’s tally appeared to exclude cases of Americans
repatriated from China or evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise
ship.
The
Washington case was the first death in U.S. but not first American to
die: A 60-year-old U.S. citizen died in Wuhan in early February.
Trump
said healthy Americans should be able to recover if they contract the
new virus, as he tried to reassure Americans and global markets spooked
by the virus threat.
He
encouraged Americans not to alter their daily routines, saying the
country is “super prepared” for a wider outbreak, adding “there’s no
reason to panic at all.”
He
added he wasn’t altering his own routine either. “You’re talking about
22 people right now in this whole very vast country. I think we’ll be in
very good shape.”
The
president also said he would be meeting with pharmaceutical companies
at the White House on Monday to discuss efforts to develop a vaccine to
counter the virus.
Trump
spoke a day after he had denounced criticism of his response to the
threat as a “hoax” cooked up by his political enemies. Speaking at a
rally in South Carolina he accused Democrats of “politicizing” the
coronavirus threat and boasted about preventive steps he’s ordered in an
attempt to keep the virus that originated in China from spreading
across the United States. Those steps include barring entry by most
foreign nationals who had recently visited China.
“They
tried the impeachment hoax. ... This is their new hoax,” Trump said of
Democratic denunciations of his administration’s coronavirus response.
Trump said Saturday he was not trying to minimize the threat of the virus.
“Again, the hoax was used in respect to Democrats and what they were saying,” he said.
Some
Democrats have said Trump should have acted sooner to bolster the U.S.
response to the virus. Democratic and Republican lawmakers also have
said his request for an additional $2.5 billion to defend against the
virus isn’t enough. They’ve signaled they will provide substantially
more funding.
Trump
said Democrats want him to fail and argued that steps he’s taken so far
have kept cases to a minimum and prevented virus deaths in the U.S.
But
Trump defended his language and emphasized he was not referring to the
virus as a hoax, saying that his description referred to “the action
that they take to try and pin this on somebody because we’ve done such a
good job.”
As
global markets plunged this week, Trump predicted they will come back,
and encouraged the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.
“The
markets will all come back,” he said. “I think the Fed has a very
important role, especially psychological. If you look at it, the Fed has
a massive impact.”
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Miller reported from Mountain Lake, Florida. Associated Press writer Kevin Freking contributed to this report.