US President Donald Trump (2nd L), flanked by US Vice President Mike Pence (R), after speaking at a news conference on the coronavirus outbreak at the White House on February 26, 2020. (AFP photo)

US Democratic presidential candidates attacked Republican President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak on Thursday, as US authorities face growing criticism for not doing enough to prevent a widespread outbreak of the virus.

Trump has been under fire about the US government’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak amid signs that efforts to contain the virus’ spread haven’t been enough.

We need a president who does not play politics with our health and national security, said Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, the national Democratic frontrunner who advocates free government-funded health coverage for all Americans.

The Trump administration must stop releasing misleading, unscientific, and false information about coronavirus, Sanders said in a statement.

His comments came after Trump held a news conference on Wednesday saying the risk from the virus was very low in the United States and put Vice President Mike Pence in charge of the response.

Sanders said that Pence was completely unqualified and called Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House economist Larry Kudlow political cronies, saying the three should be replaced in their roles in the response efforts by experts.

Another leading Democratic presidential candidate, Michael Bloomberg, said at a rally in Houston, Texas, that Trump was burying his head in the sand over coronavirus.

His failure to prepare is crippling our ability to respond, Bloomberg said.

Investment advisors worry US response to coronavirus is too little too late

Investment-advisors are increasingly worried that US authorities are not be doing enough to prevent a widespread outbreak of coronavirus in the country, potentially adding further downside to already-battered markets.

Their criticisms include the number of people so far tested by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which some say is too small, the possible difficulties of imposing lockdowns on US cities and concerns that the White House could bungle containment efforts.

The worries have magnified the uncertainty that has accompanied the coronavirus outbreak over the last several weeks, as investors scramble to adjust their portfolios to price in the virus’ potential for damage to the global economy and assess its further impact on asset prices.

More than 81,000 cases of COVID-19, an illness characterized by fever and coughing and in serious cases shortness of breath or pneumonia, have occurred since the new virus emerged in China.

The total number infected in the US reached 60 on Thursday, most of them evacuated from outbreak zones.

The new coronavirus has killed at least 2,800 - most in China- but scientists still don’t understand who’s most at risk or what the actual death rate is.

A US government whistleblower has filed a complaint alleging that some federal workers did not have the necessary protective gear or training when they were deployed to help Americans evacuated from China during the coronavirus outbreak.

(Agencies)