President Trump officially declared a national emergency after multiple cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic have been confirmed in different states.

The president’s action was made after the recommendation of a senior White House official and joined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

“My administration is taking every possible measure to protect the American people from the terrible consequences of this disease,” Trump said in the signing statement.

“We’ve got cases from California to Ohio. We’re talking about three in California, two in Ohio. We’re working with the very brilliant people in the Department of Health and their very brilliant state labs to see what more can be done. But we’re really doing everything we can,” Trump said during a press conference.

Although no final numbers have been announced for the number of people who have fallen ill in the U.S., the President noted that the number of people involved is low compared to other major outbreaks in history.

Earlier today, Mike DeWine, Governor of Ohio stated in a tweet: “We project we have 100,000 people at least who are walking around with COVID19 in Ohio. What the experts tell us is that this number will double every six days. We’re in some tough times in Ohio, and it’s very important to do all we can to slow this down.”

As part of the declaration of national emergency, the Trump administration also plan on invoking the Stafford Act to allow more federal aid for states and municipalities most heavily affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

President Trump also issued an order to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to “take all necessary and appropriate measures to assure the continued and effective conduct of its activities,” including monitoring for and responding to the outbreak.

The American Medical Association has called on the CDC to declare the outbreak an international public health emergency. More than 1600 Americans have been infected with the coronavirus, while worldwide numbers have risen above 130,000.

In Massachusetts, over the number of infected patients increased from 95 to 108 cases, including 82 cases related to a Biogen employee conference from February 24 to 27.

The virus, which was first identified in Wuhan in January, can cause fever, cough, severe pneumonia, and acute respiratory distress syndrome.