March 6 coronavirus news

National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow said Friday that the White House is considering small “timely and targeted micro forms of assistance” for Americans impacted by the novel coronavirus.

Kudlow did not offer many more details, saying he’d give “more details later.”

Kudlow also said the administration has been looking into “operations that would provide immediate cash assistance” through a variety of federal agencies.

Talking about the dip in the market due to the coronavirus, Kudlow said the administration was considering those “micro forms of assistance” because “we think we will get out of this, within months.”

Asked for his message to Americans who may have to miss multiple paychecks due to illness or quarantine, Kudlow plainly said, “We will help them.”

Each day, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is breaking down the latest news about the coronavirus on the Coronavirus: Fact vs Fiction podcast.

In today's episode, he's joined by CNN Anchor Anderson Cooper. They speak with top health experts and answer pressing audience questions as part of a special town hall on the global impact of the coronavirus.

Listen to it here.

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham just said that President Trump's visit to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — which was canceled earlier today — is now back on and scheduled for this afternoon.

There will "probably be a tour" she said when asked what would be on the itinerary.

Explaining the on-off nature of the trip she said: "What the President said is true." 

Earlier today, Trump explained that the reason for his canceled trip was because of a potential case of novel coronavirus on site.

A CDC member was suspected to have contracted coronavirus and they did not think they would get the test results in time before the President's trip so "out of an abundance of caution", she said, it was postponed for the safety of everyone involved and to allow the CDC to prevent any further spread. 

A 5th person has tested positive for coronavirus in New York City, an NYC Health Department spokesman tells CNN.

This brings the total count of confirmed coronavirus cases in the state of New York to 23.

No additional details about this patient have been provided at this time.

There are 231 cases of the novel coronavirus in the United States, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as state and local governments. 

This includes presumptive positive cases that tested positive in a public health lab and are pending confirmation from the CDC, and confirmed cases have received positive results from the CDC.

These numbers also include 49 cases of people who traveled back to the US from elsewhere in the world (46 from the Diamond Princess cruise ship; 3 from Wuhan, China).

Here's a state-by-state breakdown of cases around the US: 

Peru’s President Martin Vizcarra confirmed the country’s first case of novel coronavirus, during a televised statement on Friday. 

The patient is a 25-year-old man who had returned from a trip to Europe.

Peru has become the latest Latin American nation to record a case of coronavirus, joining Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Mexico.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf announced the first two confirmed cases of coronavirus in the state of Pennsylvania.

"I want to assure Pennsylvanians that we are prepared for this. This is not the first rapidly spreading virus we have faced, and it certainly will not be our last," Wolf said in a tweet. 

Here's what we know about the two people:

The Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic has announced new measures for people returning from Italy, ordering every Czech resident who came back from the country starting tomorrow to contact their doctor and self-quarantine for 14 days. 

The ministry said that the order has been issued due to the significant spread of the novel coronavirus in Italy and the fact that a majority of people who have tested positive for the virus in the Czech Republic have been infected during their stay in Italy. 

“According to our information, there are currently 16,500 Czech citizens in Italy,” the ministry said in a statement. 

The ministry has ordered family doctors to quarantine anyone coming back from Italy for 14 days. The statement added that anyone breaching a quarantine can be fined up to 3 million Czech crowns — about $130,000.

It said that people in quarantine are entitled to receive sick pay and urged employers to allow people who are quarantined but not sick to work remotely.

President Trump said today that he actually may still go to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after the trip was canceled.

Speaking at a bill signing for coronavirus spending, Trump said the visit was canceled because of a potential case of coronavirus.

“We may go — they thought there was a problem with CDC with somebody who had the virus,” he said, adding that the person in question has been tested and it came back negative.

“I may be going,” he added. 

President Trump signed the coronavirus spending bill Friday morning.

“We’re signing the 8.3 billion. I asked for 2.5 and I got 8.3, and I’ll take it,“ Trump said, signing the bill in the Diplomatic Reception Room. “We’re doing well, but it’s an unforeseen problem.”

WATCH: President Trump signs coronavirus spending bill