a man who returned on January 15 from visiting family in Wuhan, China, to his home in Snohomish County, Washington. He sought medical attention on January 19. The second report came on January 24, in a woman who returned to Chicago, Illinois, on January 13 from visiting Wuhan. The woman passed the virus to her husband, and he was confirmed to have the virus on January 30, in what was at that time the first reported case of local transmission in the U.S. The same day, the WHO declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, warning that "all countries should be prepared for containment." The next day, January 31, the U.S. also declared a public health emergency. Trump administration (2020) Initial events and task force formation Trump administration officials were briefed about the coronavirus outbreak in China on January 3, 2020. Health officials first substantially briefed the president about the virus on January 18, when HHS secretary Alex Azar called Trump while he was at Mar-a-Lago. On January 27, then-acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney convened a meeting with White House aides to draw greater attention to the virus among senior officials. Two days later, on January 29, President Trump established the White House Coronavirus Task Force, led by Secretary Azar, to coordinate and oversee efforts to "monitor, prevent, contain, and mitigate the spread" of COVID-19 in the United States. On February 26, Trump appointed Vice President Mike Pence to take charge of the nation's response to the virus. On March 11, during his Oval Office address, Trump announced that he had requested a number of other policy changes: He would ask Congress to provide financial relief and paid sick leave for workers who were quarantined or had to care for others. He would instruct the Small Business Administration (SBA) to provide loans to businesses affected by the pandemic, and would ask Congress for an additional $50 billion to help hard-hit businesses. He would request that tax payments be deferred beyond April 15 without penalty for those affected, which he said could add $200 billion in temporary liquidity to the economy. He would ask Congress to provide payroll tax relief to those affected. At this point, the federal government neared agreement on a stimulus proposal including direct cash payments to Americans. Trump announced that the Small Business Administration would be providing disaster loans which could provide impacted