Coronavirus outbreak: Nancy Pelosi targets Trump for ‘opaque’, ‘chaotic’ response

Following the press briefing of US President Donald Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi lashed out at Trump administration for “opaque” and “chaotic” response to coronavirus outbreak. Pelosi, in a statement, criticised the administration on slashing almost $700 million from the budget of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“And even now, the Administration continues to devalue Americans’ health security by ransacking funding from other vital public health needs,” said the House Speaker.

Pelosi accused the Trump administration of leaving critical positions at the National Security Council and the Department of Homeland Security, those in charge of managing pandemics, vacant. She added that the administration continues to “devalue” Americans’ health security by ransacking funding from other vital public health needs.

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Trump has repeatedly claimed that his administration has been handling the threat of coronavirus in an effective manner and even applauded them for doing a “great job”. At a White House news conference on February 27, Trump assured that there’s no reason to be panicked.

The US President also slammed Democrats for accusing the administration of poorly handling the threat of coronavirus. Referring to the "early" restrictions imposed on certain countries, Trump said that Democrats called it “too soon” but it turned out to be the correct decision. He said that the US has not reported a single death saying “Let’s keep it that way!”.

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CDC confirms new case

However, the threat of coronavirus looms large in the United States with one more confirmed case and Dr Anne Schuchat of CDC accepted that they do expect more cases. CDC, in a statement, said that the patient’s exposure is unknown and there is a possibility of the latest case being the first instance of community spread, where the source of infection is unknown, of COVID-19.

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