The unprecedented economic rescue package would give direct payments to most Americans, expand unemployment benefits and provide a USD 367 billion program for small businesses to keep making payroll while workers are forced to stay home.

The president said the country did not take drastic measures to fight car crashes and flu deaths similar to those it is taking for the coronavirus. He said Americans could continue practicing social-distancing measures, which health experts say are crucial to prevent infection, while also going back to work.

“We lose thousands and thousands of people a year to the flu. We don’t turn the country off,” Trump said. “You can destroy a country this way by closing it down.”

Despite recording zero new infections from March 18 to March 22, the COVID-19 hotspot city of Wuhan disclosed on March 20 that one newly diagnosed case was not included in the official data because the patient, a 62-year old man surnamed Zhang had shown no symptoms.

China, where the new virus emerged last year, loosened tough rules on the 50 million people in Hubei province on Wednesday after a months-long lockdown as the country reported no new domestic cases.

The provincial capital Wuhan — the ground zero of the outbreak after it was initially detected at a market that sold wild animals for human consumption — will allow residents to leave from April 8.