(Anti-New Crown Pneumonia) US Senate passes $ 8.3 billion budget to fight new crown pneumonia
China News Service, Washington, March 5th (Reporter Sha Tingting) The US Senate voted on the 5th to approve a US $ 8.3 billion budget to respond to the new crown pneumonia epidemic.
The budget has the full support of Republicans and Democrats. In the voting on that day, 96 votes in favor and 1 vote against were passed smoothly. The budget of $ 8.3 billion will be used for vaccines, research and development of treatments, governments at all levels to prevent and respond to the threat of new pneumonia, reserve medical supplies and other preparatory measures.
The House of Representatives voted to pass the budget on the 4th and will be sent to the White House next. U.S. President Donald Trump has agreed to sign the budget. It is worth mentioning that the budget passed by Congress to combat the new crown pneumonia epidemic is much higher than the White House's previous budget of $ 2.5 billion.
Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Shelby, said that the budget passed that day was "very radical and comprehensive." In the current situation, it should "do everything possible to ensure the safety of the American people."
Senator Canterwell from Washington State, which was severely affected by the outbreak, said he hoped that the budget would guarantee "increasing the number of people tested, strengthening quarantine measures, strengthening disinfection in public places, and better tracking the spread of the virus."
Recently, members of both parties have questioned the Trump administration's measures to respond to the new crown pneumonia epidemic, such as lack of testing efficiency and intensity, insufficient information transparency, and lack of isolation measures.
At a hearing held on the same day, several lawmakers expressed their dissatisfaction with allowing 2,500 passengers who have travelled on the Grand Princess cruise ship to return home directly. A passenger from California who has traveled on the cruise has been confirmed to have died of new crown pneumonia. In response, Robert Cardlake, assistant secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, said the government currently does not have the ability to isolate so many people. He called for more places to isolate and treat patients.
Combined with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state statistics, there are currently at least 163 confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia in the US, of which 11 have died. (Finish)