As worldwide COVID-19 cases reach nearly 418,000, the pandemic continues to take its toll on the United States.
More than 53,000 people in the U.S. have been infected, making it the third-highest number of COVID-19 cases behind Italy and China.
More than half of the cases in the U.S. are from the New York metropolitan area, White House officials said.
1 out of 1,000 people leaving the New York area is infected, which is about 8-10 times higher than other areas, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, an advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump on the pandemic.
Anyone leaving the New York metro area should self-quarantine for two weeks, added White House coronavirus task force member Deborah Birx.
Members of Congress said they were close to finalizing details of a massive $2 trillion bill that would provide aid to businesses and workers facing economic difficulties in the pandemic.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the pandemic was "quite likely the greatest risk to America's jobs and prosperity that we've seen since the Great Depression.”
The economic rescue package that would give direct payments to most Americans, expand unemployment benefits, and a create a $367 billion program for small businesses to keep making payroll while workers are forced to stay home.
A one-time payment of $1,200 per person, or $3,000 for a family of four, would go directly to the public.
In response, stock markets soared and the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged to its best day since 1933. The S&P 500 index also rose 9.4%.
No longer 'Chinese Virus'
In a Fox News town hall, Trump said that he hoped the U.S. would be open by Easter, April 12. But at a later White House briefing, he said "our decision will be based on hard facts and data."
In at least two media appearances, Trump is no longer calling the coronavirus the "Chinese Virus" as he had in the past few weeks.
Many Asian groups said the term was offensive and put them at risk.
The president in the past has defended using the term, but on Tuesday he cited his good relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping and the loss China has suffered because of the virus.
Trump says everyone knows the coronavirus came out of China and says he decided not to make “any more of a big deal out of it.”
The U.S. State Department says it has brought home over 9,000 Americans stranded in 28 countries after the global coronavirus all but closed down many national borders and severely curtailed international flights.
Spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus says the State Department "has never before undertaken an evacuation operation of such geographic breadth, scale, and complexity."
State Department officials have also said U.S. diplomats abroad have been told to reach out to foreign governments and private companies to find out if they have excess medical supplies they would be willing to sell to the United States to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, the Associated Press reported.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics were also delayed until 2021 as coronavirus deaths and infections surged in Europe and the U.S.
Story with content from the Associated Press.