Coronavirus: US cases surpass 5,000

White House considers bailout packages and strict regulations to slow the spread of the deadly pandemic

The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus throughout the United States has surpassed 5,000, according to the latest data, as testing continued across the country and experts said the true number of cases was likely far higher.

The latest figures came shortly after Donald Trump held a press conference in which he urged Americans to stay at home for the foreseeable future and “enjoy their living room” rather than taking flights or congregating in large groups.

The death toll in the United States has meanwhile reached at least 94, though the exact numbers surrounding the mysterious illness remained unclear due to complications in distributing testing kits to states battling major outbreaks. On Tuesday, the president said his administration was also considering sending supplemental assistance to states like New York as they work to slow the spread of the virus and prevent a potential overcrowding of local hospitals.

He said he had been asked about the possibility of sending the US Army Corps of Engineers to New York from the state’s governor, saying: “We're starting to. We're starting the process, we hope it's not going to be necessary but it could be necessary, the state is working on it very hard themselves but we'll probably supplement."

Mr Trump added: ”The Army Corps of Engineers is ready, willing and able, we have to give them the go ahead if we find that it's going to be necessary, we think that we can have quite a few units up very rapidly.”

The White House has meanwhile sought one of the largest financial aid packages in history, amounting to nearly $850bn, in an effort to combat the economic downturn caused by the pandemic. Society in states across the country has all but come to a grinding halt, as the stock market continued to plunge throughout the week as governors declared emergencies and millions of restaurants, bars and other venues were forced to close their doors for the foreseeable future.

Vice President Mike Pence, who has been tasked by the president with overseeing his administration’s response to the pandemic, confirmed the White House was looking into the possibility of sending in military assistance to states across the country earlier this week.

"The President directed us to work with the Department of a defence, there's two ways that DoD could be helpful in terms of expanding medical capacity”, Mr Pence said.

He added: “I know the governor of New York has asked us to look at the Army Corps of Engineers which could perhaps renovate existing buildings but the president also has us inventorying what you all would understand as field hospitals or MASH hospitals that could be deployed very quickly.”

"The President has tasked us to evaluate and to make available and to consider every request from governors for either field hospitals,” he added, “expanding facilities, or the Army Corps of Engineers which could retrofit existing buildings."

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