From the Section 1: In Proclamation 9994 of March 13, 2020 (Declaring a National Emergency Concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID- 19) Outbreak), I declared a national emergency recognizing the threat that the novel (new) coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2 poses to our Nation's healthcare systems. In recognizing the public health risk, I noted that on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization announced that the outbreak of COVID-19 (the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2) can be characterized as a pandemic. I also noted that while the Federal Government, along with State and local governments, have taken preventive and proactive measures to slow the spread of the virus and to treat those affected, the spread of COVID-19 within our Nation's communities threatens to strain our Nation's healthcare systems. To further deal with this threat, on March 18, 2020, I issued Executive Order 13909 (Prioritizing and Allocating Health and Medical Resources to Respond to the Spread of COVID-19), in which I delegated to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) the prioritization and allocation authority under section 101 of the Act with respect to health and medical resources needed to respond to the spread of COVID-19.
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