Iran Press/ America: The proclamation comes the day after the second case of the novel coronavirus in L.A. County was confirmed by health officials and is currently in self-isolation.
LA Mayor Eric Garcetti told reporters Wednesday the local declaration will help agencies coordinate a more effective response to infections and open access to state and federal funds for efforts in the county, where seven cases of COVID-19 are confirmed.
Ten people have died in the US and at least 118 cases of patients with coronavirus confirmed in 13 states, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nine of the deaths have been in Washington state while the 10th was announced by officials in Placer County east of Sacramento on Wednesday – the first COVID-19 death in California so far.
Top Trump administration officials are shifting their message on the coronavirus outbreak, emphasizing efforts to contain, rather than prevent, the disease.
The tone at a Monday afternoon White House briefing with Vice President Mike Pence and members of Trump's coronavirus task force marked a notable change from earlier efforts to tamp down fear of community spread of the disease — a tacit acknowledgment of a surge in new cases over the past two days.
One week after Trump returned home from India to confront an unfolding health crisis and tasked Pence with managing the government-wide response, the effort has been undermined by mixed messages, contradictions and falsehoods — many of them emanating from the president himself, including this week when he repeatedly spread false information about just how soon a coronavirus vaccine would be available.
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