President Donald Trump declared a national emergency on Friday because of the novel coronavirus causing the disease COVID-19 that has spread worldwide, in a development that frees up additional federal aid to combat the epidemic.

Trump’s move invokes the Stafford Act and puts into play more funds for states, territories and municipalities, and it comes after multiple published reports earlier in the day said it was in the works. The president said his action will open up access to up to $50 billion in federal aid.

Related:What a national emergency declaration means

And see:Coronavirus update — 137,066 cases, 5,069 deaths, the reality of COVID-19 hits home for Americans

Trump also said Alphabet Inc.’s GOOG, -2.37% GOOGL, -2.41% Google business was assisting in the development of a website that will help determine whether a test is warranted and to facilitate testing at a nearby location.

Among other initiatives, the president said interest would be waived on all student loans held by federal government in order to help students and their families, and he said a large amount of crude oil CL.1, -0.34% , which has seen a price plunge, will be bought for the U.S. strategic petroleum reserve.

In addition, Trump said he “most likely” would get tested for COVID-19 “fairly soon.” He previously had said he was not concerned that a Brazilian official he met had tested positive.

Republican and Democratic leaders had said earlier Friday that they were close to a deal on a coronavirus bill that aims to provide paid sick leave for people affected by COVID-19 and free testing for the disease, among other measures.

But Trump and other politicians signaled Friday afternoon that the bill may pass the Democratic-led House only on partisan lines, indicating it might fail to get support from the Republican-led Senate and the president — and therefore won’t become law.

Trump said House Democrats were not “giving enough” in talks on the coronavirus bill. Last week, Trump signed into law a preliminary $8.3 billion measure to help tackle the outbreak.

Analysts have stressed that investors should be aware that this package is the “disaster relief” and that the fiscal stimulus that Wall Street is hoping for “remains elusive.”

U.S. stocks SPX, -1.11% DJIA, -0.87% closed higher Friday but have been hammered this month by coronavirus-related worries. The reviews on Wall Street of Trump’s Wednesday-night Oval Office speech on the outbreak were not positive, with analysts criticizing him for seeking to shift blame to Europe and for proposing a “vague payroll-tax holiday.”

Revisiting the ban on foreign nationals traveling from Europe to the U.S. announced Wednesday and that exempted the U.K. and Ireland, Trump said Friday that the U.K. may have to be added to the ban as that country’s cases of coronavirus rise.

Separately, French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted Friday that he had spoken by phone with Trump and they had agreed to “organize an extraordinary Leaders Summit by videoconference on Monday on COVID-19.”

“We will coordinate research efforts on a vaccine and treatments, and work on an economic and financial response,” Macron said in his tweet.