The Trump administration is sending a $2.5 billion supplemental budget request to Congress for funding to fight the coronavirus.
“The Trump administration continues to take the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease very seriously,” said Rachel Semmel, spokeswoman for the Office of Management and Budget.
The budget request being sent on Monday night entails using untouched, unused funds from other global health initiatives, as well as new money. One billion dollars will go toward vaccine development while the Department of Health and Human Services is free to use the rest as it sees fit.
“We are grateful for the continued work of our great doctors, responders on the ground, law enforcement, state and local partners, and all those working to keep every American safe from the coronavirus,” Semmel said.
The White House’s figure is markedly smaller than President Barack Obama’s $6 billion funding request in 2014 to fight the Ebola outbreak at the time. Trump’s budget request also includes language stipulating that funds should be made available into 2021, if necessary.
The request comes amid spikes in coronavirus cases across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East that the World Health Organization called “deeply concerning.” The global stock market is also taking a hit as it remains unclear whether the coronavirus can be effectively contained, having already spread to 34 countries.
So far, about 80,000 cases of the virus have been reported worldwide, and the death toll has surpassed 2,600.
