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The first human trial of a potential coronavirus vaccine is set to commence in the U.S. on Monday. A group of 45 healthy volunteers will be injected with a harmless genetic code copied from the coronavirus. It is worth noting that the shots will not cause Covid-19 in the volunteers as they do not contain the virus itself. This is a key difference between the Covid-19 trial vaccine and typical vaccines for viruses such as measles which are made from a weakened or killed virus. The volunteers will be given two jabs in total, into the upper arm, 28 days apart. The vaccine trial which is taking place at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle is being funded by the National Institutes of Health. Health officials say it will take 12 to 18 months to fully validate any potential vaccine. Moderna Therapeutics is the biotechnology company behind the vaccine and they say a tested and tried process was used in making the vaccine. "This vaccine uses pre-

US President Donald Trump had earlier placed a travel ban which applies to Europe's Schengen area, and yesterday extended the ban to Britain and Ireland as the number of new infections in these countries soar. The announcement of the extension of the travel ban was made on Saturday afternoon as Trump spoke at a news conference at the White House. US Vice President Mike Pence confirmed the extension right after Trump spoke, saying the ban would be put in place from midnight eastern time on Monday, following the advice of health officials. "In our taskforce meeting today the president has made a decision to suspend all travel to the UK and Ireland, effective midnight Monday night, eastern standard time," said Pence. "Americans in the UK or Ireland can come home, legal residents can come home... they will will be funnelled through specific airports and processed," he added.

US President, Donald Trump has tested negative for the coronavirus, according to a statement made on Saturday March 15th by the White House physician. In a memo released by the White House, the White House physician Sean Conley wrote: "Last night after an in-depth discussion with the President regarding COVID-19 testing, he elected to proceed. "This evening I received confirmation that the test is negative. "I have been in daily contact with the CDC and White House Coronavirus Task Force, and we are encouraging the implementation of all their best practices for exposure reduction and transmission mitigation." POTUS Trump annouced early on Saturday that he had taken a coronavirus test and was awaiting results. On Friday, Conley had earlier said Trump "remains without symptoms" and testing wasn't needed. "One week after having dinner with the Brazilian delegation in Mar-a-Lago, the President remains symptom-free," said Conley. 

US President Donald Trump earlier on Saturday March 14 - during a White House press conference with Vice President Mike Pence - revealed he has taken a coronavirus test and the results are pending. “I had my temperature taken coming into the room … I also took the test last night. And I decided I should based on the press conference last night,” he said. Trump may have been exposed to the virus given that he received Brazilian government officials last weekend, including Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. One member of the delegation with whom Trump shook hands and took a photograph began showing coronavirus symptoms three days after the meeting. Another with whom President Trump had dinner, Brazilian Chargé d'Affaires Nestor Forster developed symptoms later in the week and tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday morning. The Trump government also announced that all those who come into contact with President Trump and Vice President Pence will have their temperatures tak

US president Donald Trump on Friday March 13 th declared a national emergency to provide funding to fight the coronavirus epidemic which has already claimed 41 lives in the US. The U.S. already counts more than 1,700 confirmed coronavirus cases. Speaking from the White House Rose Garden, Trump said: “To unleash the full power of the federal government for this effort, today,  I am officially declaring a national emergency - two very big words .” This declaration allows the Federal Emergency Management Agency access to more than $50bn to assist state and local governments and coordinate the country’s response to the crisis. Trump said the national emergency declaration would also allow the department of Health and Human Services to waive regulations and laws to deliver quicker coronavirus testing. The emergency measures put in place will also allow   “maximum flexibility to respond to the virus and to care for patients,” adding that “no resources would be spared.” Talkin

On Wednesday, March 11th, US President Donald Trump in a national address from the Oval Office announced a 30-day ban on some travel from Europe into the US. He said the travel suspension would begin Friday at 11:59 p.m. The ban excludes the UK, and American travelers who have undergone screenings.  "To keep new cases from entering our shores, we will be suspending all travel from Europe to the United States for the next 30 days," Mr. Trump said. He promised to deliver the "most aggressive and comprehensive effort to combat a virus" in modern history. Mr. Trump accused the European Union of not taking the precautions the U.S. had taken to prevent the spread of Covid-19 from China.  "The European Union failed to take the same precautions and restrict travel from China and other hot spots," Mr. Trump said. "As a result a large number of new clusters in the United States were seeded by travel."