The US President made the announcement on Friday.
US President Donald Trump has declared a national emergency to help handle the growing outbreak of coronavirus.
According to the BBC, this order allows the federal government to tap up to $50 billion (€45 billion) in emergency relief funds to help state and local health officials.
The move will also loosen medical insurance regulations, and has the potential to speed up the creation of new hospitals and help fund the search for new treatments.
As of Friday 13 March here are 1,701 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the United States, and a total of 40 deaths.
Trump himself has said that he has not taken a test to see if he has coronavirus, despite reportedly being in the presence of those who have since tested positive for the virus.
Trump announced the national emergency hours after Spanish President Pedro Sanchez declared a state of emergency in Spain.
This comes days after Trump banned travel from the United States and the majority of European countries, excluding Ireland and the United Kingdom.
The ban, which will be in effect for the next 28 days, applies to visitors from the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
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