this is "nightline." tonight, crisis management. >> today i and officially declaring a national emergency. >> the president shaking on a new private/public partnership and shaking off calls to get tested. >> are you being selfish by not being tested? >> i didn't say i wasn't going to be tested. >> the state of testing in america right now. doctors across the country on the front lines. >> we need to keep going as fast as we can. because right now the virus is spreading as fast as it can. >> and final flights. americans trying to beat a midnight travel ban. >> a lot of people were in

tears. >> plus. notes of reassurance. isolated but "nightline," covid-19 outbreak will be right back.

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president trump today declaring a national emergency, releasing billions of dollars to help states fight the pandemic. >> to unleash the full power of the federal government with this effort today i am officially declaring a national emergency. >> today after repeatedly down playing the gravity of the pandemic, president trump declared a national emergency. >> the action i am taking will open up access to up to $50 billion. >> part of the administration's response to combat the rapidly-spreading virus. a newly-formed public/private partnership with several iconic american brands with the aim of accelerating testing. >> we'll have the ability to do in the millions over a very, very quick period of time. >> dr. simone wile is an what's your take away from the president's press conference? >> that we are going to get testing done which everyone was

asking about. >> is it too late too little or still in time you think? >> i think we're still in time. we probably would have like td a little sooner. >> for weeks a surging demand for testing. the u.s. lagging far behind other countries in total patients tested. yesterday, dr. anthony fauci had this admission. >> it is a failing. let's admit it of. >> but today, with the president's proposals, fauci believes the equation can be changed. >> you have to embrace the private sector. that's exactly what you're seeing. >> under the new partnership, private companies like quest diagnostics will develop and launch the capacity to conduct covid-19 tests. also involved in the growing test field, the mayo clinic announced they've developed what they describe as a fairly rapid test that can detect the virus

that causes covid-19. >> our test uses samples collected through swabs taken from the nose and mouth. from there, our laboratory can amplify the virus itself. so we're not looking for evidence of the body's reaction to it, but the virus itself. >> we talked to doctors around the country whose testing experience has run the gamut. >> i have done zero testing. >> i don't feel like nick has enough tests right now. >> we just launched yesterday. so it's a new experience for us, and testing is going well. >> outside new york city in the nation's first containment zone, residents braving the rain to get answers. >> you do a swab, and also in the mouth, and we collect that in a specimen container, send it off to the lab, and they do a

special test called a pcr test and send us back the results. >> how long will that take? >> right now, it was about 48 hours. >> on wall street, the president's proposals were met with approval. the market closed with the biggest one-day gain in history after the biggest drop in history. >> we don't see declines of 28% in one month for the most part. this has been a historically dramatic week and a historically dramatic month for stocks. whether whe see that level of volatility going forward is up in the air. we are in inning two of this crisis. >> the white house announced as bleak news was coming from europe. >> europe has now become the epicenter of the pandemic. with more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined.

apart from china. >> hardest hit, italy. in 24 hours alone, more than 2500 new infections. 250 virus-related deaths. the total infections has climbed to nearly 18,000, with 1266 virus-related deaths. what makes this one so dangerous? >> it's very contagious. so we are trying to minimize contact. >> so it potentially is deadlier than the flu but as contagious as the flu. >> it is deadlier than the flu, and also more contagious than the flu. >> on wednesday, the president announced the u.s. will suspend all travel from europe, colludi excluding the united kingdom. >> even the families returning from europe will be subject to extra screening as well as

self-isolation for a period of 14 days. >> that ban took effect at midnight. and with the jump in covid-19 cases today the president hinted the uk could be added to the list. >> well that is correct w, thato me by a group of professionals. and we are looking at new numbers and we may have to include them in the list of countries that you can say ban or whatever it is during this period of time. >> today, a mad scramble at european airports with american travelers rushing to get home before the ban takes effect. >> i was supposed to come back in june and i came back today instead. >> one family paying nearly $8,000 for three one-way flights from paris to new york. >> i feel like they were putting a price tag on people's safety, and that's scary. especially people who can't afford it. >> a lot of people were in tears. >> good afternoon. from the red zone, which is the whole country in italy.

>> jason rupp who travels the world making videos about his journey is currently quarantined with his mother in italy. he and his mother arrived in sicily a day before the country went into a nationwide lockdown. >> pretty amazing. it's like we have italy to ourself. imagine having these beautiful cobble stone streets and sidewalks, these statues, amazing architecture, all to yourself, but not in a good way. nobody's happy. you don't see smiles on the street here. >> rupp says they're only making short trips for groceries. >> we found almond milk. >> restaurants are closed. bars are closed. there's very little traffic. that said, i still see people walking their dogs. i see people riding bicycles around. i see motorcycles delivering food. life goes on here. i even see people sit beiting ie

park sometimes in the daytime. however, once it becomes nighttime, everything is shut. nothing is open. at all. >> with limited options in europe, rupp says finding a ticket home is becoming increasingly difficult. >> i'm not sure where to go and what to do, since now we can't fly back to u.s. easily. >> despite the challenges, rupp says he has no choice but to remain hopeful. >> we're not sick yet. we're very healthy. and we're going to stay that way. we are, we're survivors. we're new yorkers. we're going to get through this. >> with medical experts still pushing basic hygiene, hand washing and social distancing as the best prevention, that didn't stop trump.

>> shaking hands. >> are you planning to take any precautionary measure to protect you and your test? >> no. we have no symptoms whatsoever >> but after being pressed, trump indicated he might get tested eventually. >> are you being selfish by not getting tested. >> i didn't say i wasn't going to be tested. >> are you going to be? >> most likely, not for that reason but because i think i will do it anyway. >> there are pictures and videos of the president in direct contact of someone who has tested positive for coronavirus. the cdc says if you've had close contact you should get tested. the president says he doesn't really need to because he feels fine. >> another proposal from the president, waiving interest on student loans. today 46,000 schools and 26 million students being let out of classes early. 13 states have shut doors

completely. here in mt. vernon, new york, debra stern is preparing students for a new normal. social distancing. >> it is very weird. but one of the things you do every morning is you stand at the door and shake hands with everybody. a fist bump is cool, too. now you don't do that anymore. >> for students the biggest challenge is keeping distance from friends. >> if we want to hug or anything or high-five we can't. we have to do this. when i see my best friend and i try to hug her, then i can't. because i like, i stop myself, because, you know. i don't want to catch >> i feel like it's very tempting. >> i was trying to hug her today. >> yeah. i went in for a hug. and you can't, because i realize that something serious is going on. >> yet, at this school where many of the students qualify for reduced or free meals, there's more at stake.

>> the public school becomes the really the central sort of social service agency for everything. we do a lot more than schooling. but then that gets magnified in conditions like this. >> in the midst of all the turmoil, there was some good news. encouraging news from china indicate a possible slow down in the spread of the virus from wuhan. the city indicated only five new case. and hubei province has had zero cases in eight days. is it your expectation that it's going to get worse before it gets better? >> i think with more testing i anticipate we will hear a lot more cases. so it might get worse before it gets better, but i think we are going to be totally on top of it and working with everyone closely so that we can get a pretty good grasp on what's going on. >> you hope that or you know that. ? we know that. >> up next, your covid-19 questions answered.

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it's been a week of extraordinary covid-19 developments. right now we're joined by dr. jen ashton to answer your questions, but first, president trump declared a national emergency today. what does it allow hospitals now to begin to do? >> that was huge, byron. because what that enables them to do is activate emergency preparedness plans. so that is extensive plans that lets them mobilize and secure

and start executing staff, space, supplies and systems response to something that is likely going to result in an overburdening of our health system. so things like calling in retired doctors, retired nurses, maybe activating some military reserve as volunteers for staff, in terms of space. looking at areas in the hospital that could be converted to patient units. you know, beds placed there. also they're going to be looking at their discharge plan. something called reverse triage. taking patients stable enough to be discharged from the hospital to other types of facilities so they can clear space for patients who may be sick with covid-19. the list goes on and on and on. and we should note it's unclear what the u.s. crisis care capacity is in this country. so now, these hospitals locally, regionally are really going to start putting their plans into action. >> hopefully we never have to

figure out what capacity is. first question, if coronavirus attacks a weak immune system, how does a basketball player and tom hanks get it? >> what's important is that while we know older people or patients with preexisting medical conditions are at higher risk that does not mean we won't see some young healthy people diagnosed with it, and unfortunately, it doesn't mean we won't see some of those young younger aged groups hospitalized. we're seeing people in new york in their 30s and 40s being hospitalized. >> when a person survives covid-19, do they become immune? or could that person become ill with it again? >> that's a great question. we know there are at least two strains of this

you can be infected twice, not at the same time, but once you're exposed to one strain you are immune to that strain, but there are other strains circulating and we need to know more data to understand that better. >> can you explain how the covid-19 test works? because it can be a derivative of another virus and may not be covid-19. >> there are other strains of coronaviruses that affect animals, other strains that affect humans. when they come in to a hospital setting, let's say with sim tyms or exposure or travel, the first thing they will be tested for is influenza, then a slough of respiratory viral pathogens of which another strain of coronavirus is part of it. parainfluenza. if all of those come up negative, then they are tested for this novel coronavirus or covid-19. >> here's a question i've been wanting to ask you all week.

how are you doing? you've been the rock for this network. how are you doing and what are you doing to take care of yourself. >> thank you, byron. >> there are many people at home having to be the rock of their family. you're our rock. so what are you doing? >> thank you for asking by the way. and i've heard from a lot of followers on instagram and social media. first of all, sleep. i know that is the backbone. so i make sure i am getting seven hours a night, which is basically all i'm getting. i try to get a little meditation in during the day and a little bit of exercise. that helps me keep mentally and physically strong. and my kids know how hard i'm working. they're trying to stay strong as well. but i think ultimately, we're going to very quickly know someone this affects personally, so i'm trying to set myself up to be as physically strong as i can in case that person is me. but thank you for your kind words, and i appreciate everyone's concern. >> grateful for you and your wisdom. thank you so much. all right. keep tweeting your questions

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