President Trump Issues Major Disaster Declaration for Texas in Response to COVID-19

AUSTIN, TEXAS — President Donald Trump has issued a major disaster declaration for Texas in response to the outbreak of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The order enables the state and local governments to receive federal funding to support medical and safety efforts. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott made the announcement on Twitter yesterday afternoon after sending the Trump administration a formal request on Monday, March 23. At the time the letter was submitted, Abbott identified 352 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Texas and noted that the state has already spent more than $50 million in response to the crisis. Abbott also noted that the Texas Department of State Health Services had declared a COVID-19 a “public health disaster,” the first time such a label had been issued in Texas in more than 100 years. Numbers vary as to the current number of cases, as the state has launched a new system for reporting COVID-19. But data released by Johns Hopkins University on the morning of Thursday, March 26 puts the number of confirmed cases at roughly 1,300.