WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump wants the government to send checks to Americans in the next two weeks in an effort to curb the economic cost of the coronavirus outbreak, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday. “The president has instructed me we have to do this now,” he said at the White House briefing. U.S. President Donald Trump listens to Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin speak during a briefing about the coronavirus in the press briefing room at the White House on March 17, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)The White House on Tuesday was asking Congress to approve a massive emergency rescue package to help businesses as well as taxpayers cope with the economic crisis that is paired with the pandemic. Bigger than the 2008 bank bailout or the 2009 recovery act, the White House proposal aims to provide a massive tax cut for wage-earners, $50 billion for the airline industry and relief for small businesses.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Public health officials announced on Tuesday night there are eight new positive COVID-19 cases in Florida -- where two COVID-19 patients have already died in Santa Rosa and Lee counties. With the eight new cases in Nassau, Alachua, Collier, Pinellas and Pasco counties, Florida’s total count of positive cases of COVID-19 increased to 28. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday the COVID-19 cases in Florida are largely related to international travel, according to Helen Aguirre, a spokeswoman for DeSantis’ office. Most of the COVID-19 patients in Florida are in their 60s and 70s. The youngest Florida residents who are ill are a 29-year-old woman in Hillsborough County and a 46-year-old man in Pasco County.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Metro Cruise Services -- the employer of three of the four COVID-19 patients in Broward County -- released a statement on Tuesday saying they worked at various cruise terminals in Port Everglades. Metro Cruise Services President Anthony Newman said the company was unaware the three part-time employees were sick until public health officials notified them. Officials recommended employees of Metro Cruise Services at Port Everglades with any association to the COVID-19 cases to self-quarantine. Trouble is some COVID-19 patients can be asymptomatic while spreading the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and some patients’ symptoms won’t be apparent until after about 14 days. For more information about the cases, call the Florida hotline at 1-866-779-6121 or the COVID-19 Call Center at 1-866-799-6121.

Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz announced on Tuesday his COVID-19 test was negative. “In an abundance of caution, I will remain under self-quarantine at the advice of medical professionals through Thursday at 2 p.m.," Gaetz wrote on Twitter. “I continue to feel fine and show no symptoms.”Gaetz said on Monday an interaction with a COVID-19 patient during the Conservative Political Action Conference had him concerned. After the alleged interaction, Gaetz flew on Air Force One. Threee other Republican Reps. are also in self-quarantine: Doug Collins of Georgia, Paul Gosar of Arizona and Mark Meadows of North Carolina.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The first two Florida COVID-19 patients to die were from Santa Rosa and Lee counties, the Florida Department of Health announced on Friday night. State public health officials reported the Lee County patient who died was a presumptive positive case. Officials also announced the first two presumptive positive COVID-19 cases in South Florida are in Broward County. As of Saturday morning, there are 278 people “currently being monitored” for COVID-19 symptoms in Florida, according to the Florida Department of Health. Florida public health officials are also reporting 12 positive cases: Six are Florida residents, 5 are Florida cases repatriated and one is a non-Florida resident.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Florida Department of Health announced on Friday night there are two presumptive positive cases of the coronavirus in Broward County and two COVID-19 patients who died in Lee and Santa Rosa counties. The two Broward County patients are in isolation, authorities said. Broward County authorities ask residents not to 'overreact' to COVID-19 fearsOn Friday afternoon, Broward County authorities met at the area’s emergency center to ask the public not to panic or overreact as officials are prepared for the threat. Florida public health officials are also reporting 12 positive cases: Six are Florida residents, 5 are Florida cases repatriated and one is a non-Florida resident. For more information about the cases, the Florida Department of Health’s COVID-19 call center is available 24-hours a day at 1-866-779-6121.

The test kits from Iowa-based Integrated DNA Technologies are one part of the government’s effort to ramp up testing. Washington state already has “a huge demand” for testing, Dr. Kathy Lofy, state health officer, said Wednesday at a news conference in Seattle. And it did not apply to the agency’s powers during public health emergencies. “So they went small, instead of big.”In early February, the FDA authorized the CDC to send the test kits out. Whatever the reason for the problem, only about a half dozen state and local public health labs had fully functional kits as of early last week.

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A Florida resident was diagnosed with the new coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, in Washington state, authorities said on Wednesday. Ron DeSantis said the patient, who is in isolation, “had been traveling in Asia, probably in China.” The Centers for Disease Control considers this a Florida case even though the diagnosis was in Washington, DeSantis said. A New York man who had recently traveled to Miami was diagnosed with the coronavirus, Gov. One Florida patient is in Manatee County and the other two Florida patients -- who were diagnosed after traveling to Italy -- are in Hillsborough County. Fauci also told the Senate on Tuesday that pharmaceutical company Gilead is testing a potential treatment.