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President Donald Trump on Friday declared a national emergency, accelerating the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic after weeks of an inadequate response that helped let the coronavirus spread rapidly throughout much of the country.

The declaration will allocate up to $50 billion in disaster relief funding to states, effective immediately, Trump said.

Joined by representatives from companies like Walgreens, CVS and Quest Diagnostics, Trump also unveiled a private-sector partnership to “vastly increase and accelerate our capacity to test for the coronavirus.”

He said half a million tests would be available by “early next week.”

“We want to make sure that those who need a test …continued .
[Source: Huffington Post]