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HEALTH-VIRUS-US-GOVERNMENT-BUDGET
White House asks Congress for $2.5 bn to fight coronavirus: reports
WASHINGTON, Feb 25, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – The White House plans to spend a
total of $2.5 billion fighting the deadly new coronavirus as infections
mushroom around the globe, US media reported Monday.
In a request to Congress, President Donald Trump’s administration asked
for $1.8 billion in emergency spending, according to The Washington Post.
The request was for $1.25 billion in new funding for the Department of
Health and Human Services, as well as the transfer of an additional $535
million originally set aside to fight Ebola.
The White House said it expected to draw additional money from other
agencies throughout the government, as well as from the re-prioritization of
Health and Human Services funding, for a total of $2.5 billion.
The funds will be spent on areas such as laboratory tests, quarantine,
vaccine research and development as well as supporting affected states, The
Washington Post said.
Democrats immediately slammed the request as too low, and accused the
White House of dropping the ball on disease preparedness and funding.
“The President’s request for coronavirus response funding is long overdue
and completely inadequate to the scale of this emergency,” House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi said.
“For almost two years, the Trump Administration has left critical
positions in charge of managing pandemics at the National Security Council
and the Department of Homeland Security vacant,” she added in a statement.
“His most recent budget called for slashing funding for the Centers for
Disease Control, which is on the frontlines of this emergency. And now, the
President is compounding our vulnerabilities by seeking to ransack funds
still needed to keep Ebola in check.”
Pelosi said the House of Representatives will “swiftly advance a strong,
strategic funding package that fully addresses the scale and seriousness of
this public health crisis.”
The new coronavirus has peaked in China but could still grow into a
pandemic, the World Health Organization has warned.
The coronavirus situation is worsening in other countries, with more than
2,000 cases and 30 deaths reported abroad, prompting a raft of restrictions
on travelers from infected nations.
There are 53 cases in the United States so far, including 39 among people
repatriated from China and the Diamond Princess cruise ship off Japan.
“Despite urgent warnings from Congress and the public health community,
the Trump administration took weeks to request these emergency funds,” said
House Appropriations Committee chairwoman Nita Lowey.
“It is profoundly disturbing that their answer now is to raid money
Congress has designated for other critical public health priorities. Worse
still, their overall request still falls short of what is needed for an
effective, comprehensive government-wide response.”
BSS/AFP/BZC/1335HRS