US President Donald Trump declared a national emergency on Friday afternoon over the Coronavirus outbreak in the United States.

The move loosens regulations on the provision of healthcare and frees up billions of dollars in federal funds. It also sets the Federal Emergency Management Agency in motion.

The President invoked the Stafford Act, which is the statutory authority for most federal disaster response activities. The Stafford Act gives access to the funds and the national emergency gives access to authorities, according to relevant officials.

A declaration puts FEMA, which is supporting the Health and Human Services Department and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in a position to be a coordinator over the coronavirus response.

Trump said Friday he was also urging every state to set up emergency operation centres  “effective immediately” and asking “every hospital in the country to activate its emergency preparedness plan.”

There are 1,701 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the US, and 40 deaths.

The virus originated in Wuhan China last December, but Europe is now the “epicentre” of the global pandemic, the head of the World Health Organization said on Friday, as several European countries reported steep rises in infections and deaths.

Italy has recorded its highest daily death toll yet – 250 over the past 24 hours, taking the total to 1,266, with 17,660 infections in the country.