‘Just stay calm. It will go away.’ Donald Trump tries to reassure Americans on coronavirus

President Donald Trump advised Americans to just ‘stay calm’ and the coronavirus will ‘go away’ as he attempted to calm the nation amid growing fears about the outbreak.

‘It will go away. Just stay calm, it will go away,’ he said during a press conference on Capitol Hill after he met with Republican senators about a package to combat the economic fallout from the disease.

‘We’re prepared and doing a great job with it,’ the president noted.  

His remarks came as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo sent the National Guard to New Rochelle to enforce a mile-radius coronavirus ‘containment area’ in the Westchester County community with a large cluster of cases. 

‘New Rochelle, at this point, is probably the largest cluster of these cases in the United States,’ Cuomo told reporters Tuesday. 

Meanwhile the are 240 more infections Tuesday in the United States compared to Monday, which is a 46 per cent infection rate. 

President Trump, however, pointed to diminishing number of cases in other countries to argue the virus is successfully being fought. 

China has reported decreasing numbers of those with the disease. 

‘We are look at solving this problem. Some very good numbers coming out of some countries where it started earlier,’ Trump said.

He also argued more people die from the flu instead of Coronavirus, pointing out the United States has only had 26 deaths.

‘But right now, 26 deaths and if you look at the flu for this year, we are at 8,000 deaths. And you know, hundreds of thousands of cases, 8,000 versus 26 deaths at this time,’ the president said. 

Trump attended Senate Republicans weekly luncheon on Tuesday to talk about an economic package to respond to the virus. 

The administration and House Democrats are looking at competing plans to fight the economic fallout.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters at the Capitol Monday that the Democrats’ plan, proposed by herself and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, could be proposed and voted on as soon as this week.

This plan would include paid sick leave for those impacted by coronavirus, widespread and free coronavirus testing access, expanding programs like food stamps and reimbursing patients for costs not covered by insurance related to the fast-spreading respiratory virus.

She added that Democratic leadership could condense the congressional recess ‘if there’s a necessity — if we think we’re going to get some action in the Senate to do it.’ 

Pelosi and Schumer’s plan comes as President Trump is proposing his own economic bailout plan in response to coronavirus concerns. 

The president charged the Democrats are doing nothing.

‘Nancy Pelosi just said, ‘I don’t know if we can be ready this week.’ In other words, it’s off to vacation for the Do Nothing Democrats. That’s been the story with them for 1 1/2 years!,’ he tweeted on Tuesday morning before he headed to Capitol Hill. 

And he touted his administration’s work in responding to the Coronavirus. The White House has been criticized for its response, particularly on the lack of kits to test for the disease.

‘Our CoronaVirus Team has been doing a great job. Even Democrat governors have been VERY complimentary!,’ Trump wrote.  

But top Democrats are criticizing the administration’s plan for focusing too much on the economy rather than helping those directly impacted by the coronavirus outbreak.

Markets suffered their biggest-ever one-day loss on Monday and saw a decline not experienced since the 2008 financial crisis.

The Dow dropped nearly 8 per cent on Monday, which concerned Trump, who often touts economic wins and market gains under his administration.

Markets saw a slight rebound as they opened Tuesday morning as the Dow raised about 700. 

The president told reporters gathered in the briefing room at the White House Monday evening that he would be talking with Senate Republicans Tuesday on implementing a payroll tax cut, helping hourly workers not be penalized for taking off work and crisis loans for small business.

He also said he is looking at helping cruise, airline and hotel industries as they suffer blows with escalating fears of the virus spread across the country.

Trump promised his relief plan ‘will be major’ as Pelosi says the Democratic proposal would depend on the Congressional Budget Office and how quickly costs could be assessed.

‘We are going to take care of, and have been taking care of, the American people and the American economy,’ Trump said from the briefing room podium Monday and left without taking questions.

Trump has continuously downplayed the threats of coronavirus, claiming the situation is ‘inflamed’ by the media and Democrats – even as the death toll in the U.S. hit 26 this week and there are more than 750 confirmed cases.

The threat hit close to home as U.S. and global markets plummeted Monday and one of his own Air Force One passengers, Florida Representative Matt Gaetz, self-quarantined after learning he came in contact with someone who tested positive for the virus.

While the president said he would be meeting with House Republicans and Senate leadership on Tuesday, he did not say if he would be speaking with Democrats, who control the House and whose approval is required for a tax relief plan to become law.

Pelosi’s office said that there is currently no plan for Trump to meet with Democrats.

Vice President Mike Pence who heads the coronavirus task force and was left to answer reporters’ questions after the president left the room Monday night, said he had not yet been tested for the virus.

He also said he has no idea if the president has been tested, even though he attended the Conservative Political Action Conference and has come in close contact with individuals who have had contact with a person who tested positive.

At 73-years-old, the president is at a higher risk of contracting and falling ill to coronavirus.

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement late Monday night the president hasn’t been tested.

‘The President has not received COVID-19 testing because he has neither had prolonged close contact with any known confirmed COVID-19 patients, nor does he have any symptoms. President Trump remains in excellent health, and his physician will continue to closely monitor him,’ she said. 

Doctors and immunologist experts have recommended that those above 60 take extra precautions to avoid contracting the virus.  

Trump said that the world had been ‘blindsided’ by coronavirus, and claimed shutting down travel from China had been decisive in ensuring the crisis was not worse.    

‘We’re also going to be talking about hourly wage earners getting help so that they can be in a position where they’re not going to ever miss a paycheck,’ he said of his upcoming talk with lawmakers.  

The president’s Treasury secretary mentioned a menu of actions the president can undertake on his own.  

Trump vowed to work with companies of all sizes ‘so that they don’t get penalized for something that’s not their fault. It’s not their fault, it’s not our country’s fault. This was something that we were thrown into and we’re going to handle it and we have been handling it very well,’ Trump said. 

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who on Monday met with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., told reporters: ‘The president is committed that whatever support we need to provide to the U.S. economy, we will use all our tools.’ 

He said he has been speaking to the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, daily. He mentioned steps for workers that ‘need to be at home.’ He called them hardworking despite the quarantines they may face. 

Mnuchin also mentioned ‘alternatives’ at the IRS at tax time.’

‘We have large tax payments coming up,’ he said, mentioning providing ‘certain relief to companies and individuals.’

Returning from a day of fundraising after a weekend in Florida, Trump avoided specifics in advance of his meetings. ‘We’ll explain what we’re doing on an economic standpoint and from an economic standpoint but they will be very dramatic and we have a great economy,’ he said. 

House Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, whose Senate colleague Ted Cruz is under quarantine, was cool to the idea of tax cuts to boost the economy. ”I usually love tax cuts but I think it’s a little bit premature,’ he said, CNN reported.  

Trump said he would discuss the response at a news conference Tuesday.  

Mike Pence – who was left on the dais to answer questions – said he had not been tested but had no idea if the president had been.

Unveiling a bailout appeared to be a desperate attempt to arrest a precipitous market selloff which shocked analysts and was prompted by the collapse in the price of oil. 

At the closing bell, the Dow was down by 2,025.32, 7.83 percent, which was worse than the figure that had forced trading to a halt earlier in the day. It signals the worst ever point drop for the index.  

It was the worst day of trading on Wall Street since the global financial crisis in 2008.

Trading was stopped by the Street’s ‘kill-switch’, which is known as a circuit breaker, not long after the opening bell after stocks dropped by seven percent. 

It resumed after a 15 minute break but struggled to recover throughout the day and ended up finishing worse off than the day’s beginning. For trading to have been halted for a second time, stocks would have had to have dropped by 13 percent. 

The chaos was caused by a ‘one-two punch’ of escalating panic surrounding coronavirus, and a precarious oil price war launched by Saudi Arabia against Russia and, in turn, the rest of the world. 

Last week, Russia refused to agree to the terms of a deal that would slash the world’s oil production rates.

In retaliation, Saudi Arabia vowed to boost production and slash prices, a move which threatens to saturate the world’s market with cheap oil as demand for it plummets thanks to the virus. 

Despite the financial chaos, President Trump tweeted about that it was ‘fake news’ and that Democrats were to blame for mass hysteria. 

‘The Fake News Media and their partner, the Democrat Party, is doing everything within its semi-considerable power (it used to be greater!) to inflame the CoronaVirus situation, far beyond what the facts would warrant,’ he tweeted. 

‘Great job being done by the Vice President and the CoronaVirus Task Force. 

‘Thank you!’ 

‘The BEST decision made was the toughest of them all – which saved many lives. Our VERY early decision to stop travel to and from certain parts of the world! 

‘So much FAKE NEWS!,’ he said in others. 

He also said more Americans die every year from the common flu than of coronavirus. 

Even amid the market turmoil and focus on the health of the U.S. economy, Trump’s own health was a concern amid concern about his potential exposure to a GOP lawmakers who had contact with a man who tested positive for the coronavirus.

Trump refused to answer questions on Monday on whether he’s been tested for the coronavirus after traveling with Congressman Matt Gaetz, who announced he came into contact with individual at C-PAC who had the coronavirus and is voluntarily self-quarantining.

The president left a White House briefing on the disease after making a brief statement on the economic measures his administration was taking to combat the disease. 

He left the room and didn’t answer as multiple journalists asked him if he had been tested for the virus. 

Pence, who stayed to continue the briefing, said he has never been testified for the virus. Pence and President Trump both attended the CPAC conference at the end of the month, where an attendee tested positive for the disease. 

He said he would get reporters an answer on whether the president has been tested. 

‘We’ll get you a very direct answer on that,’ he said. ‘I’ve had no recommendation that I be tested.’

Gaetz traveled on Air Force One with President Trump on Monday when the president returned from Florida. He was spotted getting off the back of the plane, where he was met by an Air Force official and escorted to a waiting car. He was seen getting on the plane in Orlando, where he walked up the front stairs of Air Force One after the president. 

‘While the Congressman is not experiencing symptoms, he received testing today and expects results soon. Under doctor’s usual precautionary recommendations, he’ll remain self-quarantined until the 14-day period expires this week.’ 

Gaetz learned after Air Force One left Orlando that he had been in touch with an infected person at CPAC, two sources told The New York Times. He then essentially quarantined himself, sitting in a section of the plane alone, the paper reported.

The congressman told The Washington Post he was put into a ‘closed up room’ on Air Force One after he found out he might have been exposed to coronavirus. After landing, Trump ‘coaxed’ him up front before leaving. 

‘He was not hyper cautious about being in the same space that I was in,’ Gaetz told the newspaper. 

‘I refused to go into his office, I stood outside the door. I told him he could talk from that distance,’ he said. 

The Florida Republican wore a gas mask on the House floor last week to mock the outrage surrounding the epidemic. The stunt drew enormous attention, which his office acknowledged in Monday’s statement.

‘Congressman Gaetz had expected COVID-19 to impact Congress, given the elevated frequency of travel and human contact, and demonstrated his concern last week on the House Floor,’ Gaetz office said.

His Washington D.C. office on Capitol Hill will also be closed but his Florida office will remain open.

Gaetz was spotted at Mar-a-Lago Saturday night where there was a dinner for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and a birthday party for Kimberly Guilfoyle.

Also spotted at Mar-a-Lago that night were President Trump, Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr.; Eric Trump and his wife Lara Trump; Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.

Tiffany Trump was also spotted in photos posted to social media. Also seen was Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal attorney; Vice President Mike Pence; Republican Senator Lindsey Graham; and Fox News host Tucker Carlson.   

Gaetz was spotted on Wednesday wearing the mask ahead of the vote on an emergency spending bill to fight the virus.

Just two days later and health officials announced the death of a man in Santa Rosa County, which falls under Gaetz’s northwestern Florida district. A second elderly person in Lee County has also died.