Fact Sheet - President Donald J. Trump Has Taken Unprecedented Steps To Respond To The Coronavirus And Protect The Health And Safety Of Americans

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RESTRICTING TRAVEL FROM IMPACTED AREAS: President Donald J. Trump is taking further action to curb the spread of the coronavirus to the United States from other countries.

• President Trump is issuing a proclamation under section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to restrict travel to the United States from foreign nationals who have recently been in certain European countries.
  • Section 212(f) of the INA only applies to the movement of human beings, not goods or cargo.
• The restriction applies to foreign nationals who have been in the Schengen Area, 26 countries in Europe with open borders agreements, in the last 14 days.
• Those who are exempt from these restrictions, such as American citizens, will be directed to a limited number of airports where screening can take place.
• There is extensive travel back and forth between Europe that heightens the risk here in the United States.

LOOKING OUT FOR AMERICAN BUSINESSES AND WORKERS: President Donald J. Trump is committed to protecting American businesses and workers from the impacts of coronavirus.

• The President is announcing an economic assistance package to help support businesses and workers who have been harmed by this outbreak.
• President Trump has instructed the Small Business Administration (SBA) to exercise available authority to provide loans to businesses affected by the coronavirus.
  • These loans will help overcome disruptions caused by the coronavirus.
  • The President is calling on Congress to increase funding for this program by an additional $50 billion.
• The President will be instructing the Department of the Treasury to defer tax payments for certain individuals and businesses negatively impacted by the coronavirus.
  • This action will provide more than $200 billion of additional liquidity to the economy.
• President Trump is calling on Congress to immediately pass payroll tax relief.
• The President announced that he will soon be taking emergency action to provide financial relief for workers who are ill, quarantined, or caring for others due to the coronavirus.
  • The President also called on Congress to take action to extend this relief for workers.

LEADING AN AGGRESSIVE, WHOLE-OF-GOVERNMENT APPROACH: President Trump has taken unprecedented steps to protect the health of Americans in response to the coronavirus.

• The President is leveraging all of our resources to respond to the coronavirus, bringing together government and private industry in a collaborative response.
• The Trump Administration declared a public health emergency in January to bolster response efforts.
• President Trump took early action to help curb the spread of the virus from other countries to the United States, providing important time for response and preparations.
  • In January, President Trump acted quickly to restrict travel from foreign nationals traveling from China.
  • In February, the President restricted travel for individuals recently traveling from Iran.
  • The Administration put into place mandatory screening for all travelers coming into the country from Italy and South Korea.
  • Travel advisories for severely impacted areas like Italy and South Korea have been raised to their highest level.
• Today, the President directed his Administration to make general-use face masks available to our healthcare workers.
  • The Administration's actions will help make millions of general-use respirators available to keep healthcare workers safe and mitigate transmission of the virus.
• President Trump signed into law more than $8 billion to fund response efforts.
• The Administration has taken bold steps to incentivize the development of therapeutics and vaccines to treat and prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
• Working across the public and private sectors, the Trump Administration continues to drastically expand testing capacity.
  • More than 1 million tests have been distributed nationwide, with another 4 million tests being shipped out by the end of the week.
  • Testing is now available in every State lab in the country and commercial labs are now deploying tests, which will help generate a dramatic increase in availability.
• The Trump Administration has released guidance on how to keep businesses, schools, community gathering places, and families safe.
  • From the start, President Trump has made keeping the public informed a top priority.
• The Administration has announced that health plans with health savings accounts will be able to cover coronavirus testing and treatment without co-payments.