Trump urges calm even while U.S. reports new virus case from unknown origin

U.S. President Donald Trump declared Wednesday a widespread U.S. outbreak of the brand new respiratory virus sweeping the world isn't inevitable even while top health authorities at his side warned Americans that more infections are coming.

Shortly after Trump spoke, the federal government announced a worrisome development: Someone else in the U.S. is infected - someone in California who doesn't may actually have the usual risk factors of experiencing traveled abroad or being exposed to another patient.

At a White House news conference, Trump sought to reduce fears as he insisted the U.S. is "very, very ready" for whatever the COVID-19 outbreak brings. Under fire about the government's response, he put Vice President Mike Pence in charge of coordinating the efforts.

"This will end," Trump said of the outbreak. "You don't want to see panic because there's no reason to be panicked."

But standing next to him, the health officials Trump praised for fighting the brand new coronavirus stressed that schools, businesses and individuals need to get ready.

"We do expect more cases," said Dr Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

If the CDC confirms that the most recent U.S. case doesn't involve travel or connection with an infected person, it could be an initial in this country and an indicator that efforts to contain the virus' spread haven't been enough.

"It's possible this could be an example of community spread of COVID-19," the CDC said in a statement.

A lot more than 81,000 cases of COVID-19, an illness seen as a fever and coughing and in serious cases shortness of breath or pneumonia, have occurred because the new virus emerged in China.

The hottest case from California brings the full total number infected in the U.S. to 60, almost all of them evacuated from outbreak zones.

Trump credited border restrictions that have blocked people getting into the U.S. from China for keeping infections low so far. But now countries around the world - from South Korea and Japan to Italy and Iran - are experiencing growing amounts of cases. Asked if it had been time to either lift the China restrictions, or take steps for travelers from elsewhere, he said: "At the right time we may do this. Right now it isn't the time."

Trump spent near an hour discussing the virus threat, after a week of sharp currency markets losses over medical crisis and concern within the administration a growing outbreak could affect his reelection. He blamed the Democrats for the currency markets slide, saying, "I believe the financial markets are incredibly upset when they look at the Democrat candidates standing on that stage making fools out of themselves." And at one point he shifted to guard his overall record and predict a win in November.

A key question is whether the Trump administration is spending enough money to find the country prepared - especially as the CDC has struggled to expand the number of states that may test persons for the virus. Other key concerns are stockpiling masks and other protective equipment for health workers, and creating a vaccine or treatment.

Health officials have exhausted a short $105 million in emergency funding and also have been looking elsewhere for dollars. Earlier this week, Trump requested $2.5 billion from Congress to fight the virus. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York countered with a proposal for $8.5 billion.

Trump told reporters he was available to spending "whatever's appropriate."

Trump compared the new virus repeatedly to the flu, which kills tens of thousands each year. The brand new coronavirus has killed a lot more than 2,700 - most in China and none in the U.S. up to now - but scientists still hardly understand who's most at risk or what using the death rate is.

Without a vaccine, CDC's Schuchat advised people to follow "tried and true, not very exciting" but important precautions: Wash the hands, cover your coughs and stay home when you're sick.

A day earlier, another CDC official, Dr Nancy Messonnier, was even more blunt, telling Americans to ready for a few of the same steps as occurred through the 2009 flu pandemic, such as school closings. "It's not so much a question of if this may happen anymore, but instead more a question of precisely when this may happen - and just how many persons in this country will have extreme illness," she said.

The National Institutes of Health's top infectious disease chief cautioned a vaccine will not be ready for widespread use for a year or even more. But Dr Anthony Fauci said whether or not the virus wanes soon, it's "quite conceivable" that it might "keep coming back and recycle next year." By then, he said, "we hope to have a vaccine."

Democrats were quick to condemn Trump's response to the outbreak. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called it "opaque and chaotic."

"Instead of hearing public health and doctors, the president has been downplaying the potential impact of the virus for over a month," said Democratic Rep Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, chairman of the home Homeland Security Committee.

Thompson added that putting Pence, "someone without public health expertise, responsible for the response will not instill confidence with the American persons and raises questions about the administration's capability to coordinate an effective response to a complex public health threat."

During his time as Indiana's governor, Pence faced criticism for his response to a public health crisis in the southern the main state.

In 2015, Scott County saw the quantity of men and women infected with HIV skyrocket, with practically 200 people testing positive for the virus in a span of months. Indiana law at that time prohibited needle exchanges, exacerbating the outbreak, which mainly infected intravenous users of the painkiller Opana.

Pence had long opposed needle exchanges but was eventually persuaded to issue an executive order allowing one in Scott County. Despite his own misgivings - Pence said he didn't support the exchanges as an "anti-drug policy" - he signed a law allowing the state to approve them on a case-by-case basis.

Arriving back the U.S. from India early Wednesday, Trump immediately started to counter critics who say he must have acted sooner to strengthen the federal response to the coronavirus.

U.S. lawmakers have accused the Trump administration of downplaying the crisis and underfunding the response.

During a visit to India, the president told reporters professionals were "very near a vaccine," forcing White House officials to clarify later that he was discussing Ebola, not the novel coronavirus.

White House monetary advisor Larry Kudlow has also can be found in for criticism after telling CNBC the virus was "contained" -- on a single day the CDC warned a U.S. outbreak was inevitable.

But Trump has insisted his administration is "performing a Congrats," blaming the media Wednesday for trying to stoke fear in a tweet where he spelled the name of the virus incorrectly.

"Low Ratings Fake News MSDNC (Comcast) & @CNN are doing everything possible to help make the Caronavirus look as bad as possible, including panicking markets, when possible," he tweeted, by using a derogatory name for cable news network MSNBC that suggests it really is linked to the Democratic National Committee.

"Likewise their incompetent Do Nothing Democrat comrades are talk, no action. USA in great shape!"

Wall Street stocks opened higher after suffering another straight rout Tuesday, with losses picking up after U.S. health officials warned the epidemic was more likely to hit the world's biggest economy.

With cases being reported in more countries -- and lockdowns in nations including Austria, Italy and Spain -- traders come to mind about the effect on the global economy.

In the U.S., officials have voiced fears for the supply of medical products just because a high proportion of ingredients used to make medicine originates from China.

THE MEALS and Drug Administration has also discovered personal protective equipment, such as for example face masks, respirators and gowns, as being among products vulnerable to shortages.

Trump has wondered aloud if Health insurance and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar is the right person to lead the administration's response. The White House had considered naming a virus czar, but had not been sure that was the right route, said a person acquainted with the discussions. Azar himself was said to be supportive of naming a czar.

Among those in mind for such a post: Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham was also pushing back. Grisham retweeted a CDC post having said that "there happens to be no reported community spread" of coronavirus in the U.S.

This week, the NIH received a shipment of test doses of a vaccine candidate from Moderna Inc, in preparation for first-step safety testing in a few dozen persons aimed to commence by April. But Fauci cautioned reporters that in a best-case scenario, "you're discussing a year to a year and a half" before any vaccine will be ready for widespread use.

Fauci said that while only a few cases have turned up in the U.S. from travelers outside the country, "we need to manage to think about how exactly we will react to a pandemic outbreak."

"It is rather clear. If we've a worldwide pandemic, no country will probably be without impact," Fauci said.

A pandemic involves the continual spread of sustained transmission from individual to individual in multiple regions and hemispheres throughout the world simultaneously, Fauci noted.