Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington state, and Gary Peters of Michigan, sent a letter asking Trump to "immediately" consider disaster declaration requests for the coronavirus. There are two types of declarations that a governor could request from the President -- emergency declarations and major disaster declarations, both of which are authorized by the Stafford Act. That declaration would be separate from Trump's national emergency declaration last year over the southern border crisis. "The difference between the two is scope and money," Reaves said, referring to emergency declarations and disaster declarations. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar declared coronavirus a public health emergency in late January.

Source: CNN March 11, 2020 22:18 UTC