
A coronavirus economic aid bill was passed by 363 votes to 40 by the House of Representatives in the early hours of Saturday morning after receiving support from President Trump who declared a national emergency because of the coronavirus on Friday afternoon.

The sweeping relief package includes two weeks of paid sick leave and up to three months of paid family and medical leave as the coronavirus is now confirmed in 49 states. West Virginia is the only state not to have a case by Friday evening.

Trump threw his support behind the legislation which faced a vote in the House early Saturday morning, after announcing a national emergency over coronavirus and later designating this Sunday, March 15, a National Prayer Day.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday announced the deal with the Trump administration for an aid package from Congress that would provide free tests even for the uninsured, enhanced unemployment benefits by boosting food stamps, and federal funds for Medicaid. It will also bolster food programs with additional food aid.

Additionally it will include two weeks of paid sick leave and up to three months of paid family and medical leave for Americans who work for businesses with less than 500 employees or the government and are infected by the virus.

The bill was passed by the House in a post-midnight vote on Saturday morning after a last-minute push to get details agreed. It will now go to a vote in the Senate when it returns next week.

The vote came after a roller-coaster day in which:

President Trump declared a national emergency in response to the coronavirus pandemic which will open $50 billion in emergency funds

In a press conference on Friday evening, he said he wasn’t taking responsibility for an early lack of testing and argued the Obama administration had more deaths with swine flu than have happened under the coronavirus

Said the United Kingdom might be added to his travel ban because numbers there are soaring;

Ordered hospitals to come up with emergency plans to deal with the expected onslaught;

Disclosed that the federal government had ordered more 'respirators';

Waived federal student loan interest payments;

Said he would replenish the nation's strategic oil reserve because prices are low - a move which is effectively a massive giveaway to domestic oil producers;

Boasted that his actions had led to 'just 40 deaths' - but warned the number will go up;

Refused to take any responsibility for the testing fiasco - even as the top medical official on his coronavirus taskforce said the president had only 'realized' there was a problem on Tuesday;

Denied he had any idea that his administration had dismantled a pandemic readiness unit inside the White House which was part of the National Security Council saying it was 'people in his administration' not him;

Repeatedly shook hands with other people around him as he addressed a group of reporters squeezed close to each other, all in defiance of CDC guidelines.

His comments came before Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday night that the deal had been struck between Congress and the White House on the coronavirus emergency aid package

It includes free testing even for the uninsured, additional food aid, two weeks of paid sick leave, up to three months of paid family and medical leave,and enhanced unemployment benefits by boosting food stamps

Amid concerns from Republicans on Friday, who claimed they would not vote for the response bill without being sure of Trump's support, the president encouraged both parties to vote yes.

'I fully support H.R. 6201: Families First CoronaVirus Response Act, which will be voted on in the House this evening. This Bill will follow my direction for free CoronaVirus tests, and paid sick leave for our impacted American workers,' Trump tweeted.

'I have directed the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Labor to issue regulations that will provide flexibility so that in no way will Small Businesses be hurt. I encourage all Republicans and Democrats to come together and VOTE YES!

'I will always put the health and well-being of American families FIRST. Look forward to signing the final Bill, ASAP!' he added.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., makes a statement ahead of a planned late-night vote on the coronavirus aid package deal at the Capitol in Washington on Friday

Donald Trump declared the coronavirus pandemic a national emergency in order to free up more money and resources

The negotiated deal was first announced by Speaker Pelosi around 6pm on Friday evening.

'We are proud to have reached an agreement with the Administration to resolve outstanding challenges, and now will soon pass the Families First Coronavirus Response Act,' Pelosi announced in a letter to colleagues. The House was poised to vote.

Pelosi added that the legislation would allow for free coronavirus testing, which includes testing for people who are uninsured. It would also include two weeks of paid sick leave, paid family and medical leave.

The bill will also strengthen unemployment insurance by boosting food stamps.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a deal with the Trump administration for an aid package from Congress that would provide free tests, sick pay for workers and bolster food programs

President Donald Trump, right, listens as Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus response coordinator, speaks during a news conference about the coronavirus in the Rose Garden of the White House on Friday

Appearing on Fox New later in the evening, however, Secretary Mnuchin revealed he had not signed off on the deal and that further details needed to be figured out.

'We have an agreement that reflects what the president talked about in his speech the other [Wednesday] night. He's very focused on making sure that we can deal with the coronavirus, that people who have to be home quarantined -- that hard-working Americans don't lose their compensation because they have to be home quarantined,' Mnuchin said.

'Obviously we expect the bigger corporations to pick up these costs,' Mnuchin added, 'and we also want to make sure that people can get free testing. The president wants lots of testing. One of the things the market responded very positively to was [that] the president has made just enormous progress with all these big companies coming in and saying that there's testing.'

Earlier today, Donald Trump declared the coronavirus pandemic a national emergency allowing him to access $50 billion in emergency funds and unveiling drive-thru testing in Walmart, Target and CVS parking lots.

But he denied any responsibility for delays in making testing available for the new virus, whose spread has roiled markets and disrupted the lives of everyday Americans.

Trump also announced a range of executive actions, including a new public-private partnership to expand coronavirus testing capabilities with drive-through locations, as his administration has come under fire for being too slow in making the test available.

Trump said, 'I don't take responsibility at all' for the slow rollout of testing.

Access to testing has been a persistent source of concern. Still, Trump said officials don't want people taking the test unless they have certain symptoms.

'We don't want people without symptoms to go and do that test,' Trump said, adding, 'It's totally unnecessary.'

Late on Friday Trump also announced that this Sunday, March 15, would be National Prayer Day.

'It is my great honor to declare Sunday, March 15th as a National Day of Prayer. We are a Country that, throughout our history, has looked to God for protection and strength in times like these,' he said.

'No matter where you may be, I encourage you to turn towards prayer in an act of faith. Together, we will easily PREVAIL!'

Before announcing that the deal had been reached, Pelosi said the House would approve its coronavirus aid package, imploring the Trump administration and congressional Republicans to 'put families first' by backing the effort to provide Americans with relief.

The House Democratic leader spoke from the speaker's balcony at the Capitol ahead of Trump's news conference at the White House, as the power centers of Washington were shuttered to visitors.

'Our nation, our great nation has faced crisis before,' Pelosi said.

'And every time, thanks to the courage and optimism of the American people, we have prevailed. Now, working together, we will once again prevail.'

Central to the package is free testing for the virus and guaranteed sick pay for workers who are taking time away from jobs, along with an infusion of dollars to handle unemployment benefits and boost food programs for children, families and seniors.

Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, whom Trump tapped to negotiate for the administration, have engaged in around-the-clock negotiations that continued even as Trump was speaking.

But Republican leaders in Congress slowed the deal, wanting assurances that Trump would publicly support the agreement before signing off on it ahead of any vote, according to a top congressional aide unauthorized to discuss the private talks and speaking on condition of anonymity.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin speaks with reporters about the effects from the coronavirus, at the White House

Dr. Anthony Fauci, left, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks with Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., right, after updating members of Congress on the coronavirus outbreak, on Capitol Hill in Washington

The White House is under enormous pressure, dealing with the crisis on multiple fronts as it encroached ever closer on the president.

The virus has swept in alarming ways across American life, sending the financial markets into a dangerous slide and shuttering schools and sporting events and limiting everyday interactions in communities across the country.

Pelosi and Mnuchin continued their constant cross-town phone calls throughout a tense day of negotiations to firm up and salvage the emerging deal that has widespread support from Democrats and some in the business community seeking certainty.

Providing sick pay for workers is a crucial element of federal efforts to stop the rapid spread of the infection. Officials warn that the nation's healthcare system could quickly become overwhelmed with gravely sick patients, as suddenly happened in Italy, one of the countries hardest hit by the virus.

The ability to ensure paychecks will keep flowing - for people who stay home as a preventative measure or because they're feeling ill or caring for others - can help assure Americans they will not fall into financial hardship.

The House aid package builds on an emergency $8.3 billion measure approved last week.

Pelosi promised a third coronavirus package will follow soon, though the House is leaving Washington on Friday for a previously scheduled recess. That measure will include more aggressive steps to boost the U.S. economy, which economists fear has already slipped into recession.

But there's little appetite within either party for Trump's proposal to suspend collection of the 6.2 percent Social Security payroll tax. States are already clamoring for fiscal relief from Washington as the virus threatens their budgets.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, infectious disease chief at the National Institutes of Health, said more tests would be available over the next week, but that officials should not wait before trying to mitigate the virus' effects.

'We still have a long way to go,' he said Friday.

'There will be many more cases. But we'll take care of that, and ultimately, as the president said, this will end.'

Donald Trump declares a national emergency on coronavirus with drive-thru testing centers in Walmart, Target and CVS parking lots - saying he WILL be tested but swab kits are NOT for everyone and CANNOT say when they will arrive

Donald Trump declared a national emergency on coronavirus at a hastily-organized press conference in the White House Rose Garden - allowing him to access $50 billion in emergency funds and unveiling drive-thru testing in Walmart, Target and CVS parking lots.

But he said testing should not be available to everyone, directing people instead to a Google-run website to tell people what to do. When it is to launch will not be announced until Sunday.

He also failed to address when adequate numbers of tests will finally arrive - and one of his advisers said the president only 'realized' there was a problem on Tuesday.

And then he threw medical guidelines on testing into chaos saying that he would get one himself - but not because he stood beside a Brazilian Mar-a-Lago guest who tested positive but 'because I think I will do it anyway.'

Wall Street rebounded while the president spoke, responding positively to the measures he outlined after the Dow suffered its worst day since the 1987 recession earlier this week.

CDC guidelines ignored: Donald Trump shook hands repeatedly with the people he brought with him to the Rose Garden including Brian Cornell, the Target CEO

CEO line-up: Trump brought a string of CEOs

The press conference was Trump's attempt to make amends for his missteps in his national address Wednesday night, when he misspoke about his own travel ban policy - requiring a correction - and leaving the nation uneasy about the steps his administration was taking to combat the disease.

Trump started by cracking open the $50 billion in funding, a move which will also make states able to rapidly put people on Medicaid if they seek treatment.

'The action I am taking will open up access to up to $50 billion of very important and a large amount of money for states and territories, localities in our shared fight against this disease. In furtherance of the order, I'm asking every state to set up emergency operations centers immediately,' he said.

He opened the press conference by repeating claims which have repeatedly come under fire that the federal response has been a success.

He spoke on a day when questions mounted about whether he has been infected with the virus himself, with his daughter Ivanka self-isolation - and as markets suffered yet another wild ride. His dinner guest in Mar-a-Lago, Brazil's president Jair Bolsonaro was at the center of confusion as his son said he tested positive for coronavirus then he right-leader claimed he had tested negative.

'I'd like to provide an update to the American people on several decisive new actions we're taking that are very vigilant effort to combat and ultimately defeat the corona virus, we've been working very hard on this. We've made tremendous progress,' he said.

'Europe was just designated as the hotspot right now. We closed that border awhile ago. That was lucky, through talent or luck, whatever you want. But through a very collective action and shared sacrifice, national determination, we will overcome the threat of the virus.'

'Like our earlier, very aggressive actions with China this measure will save countless lives.'

'To unleash the full power of the federal government did the separate today I am officially declaring a national emergency - two very big words.'

'The action I am taking will open up access to up to $50 billion of very important and a large amount of money for states and territories, localities in our shared fight against this disease. Furtherance of the order, I'm asking every state to set up emergency operations centers immediately.'