The Federal Emergency Management Agency is said to be preparing for Donald Trump to declare coronavirus a national emergency.

An 'infectious disease emergency declaration' would allow FEMA to free up disaster relief funding and provide federal assistance, NBC News reports.

The president would have to enact the 1988 Stafford Act, last used by Bill Clinton in 2000 in New York and New Jersey for outbreaks of the West Nile virus.

It would mean mobile hospitals and military transport could be provided by FEMA using the $34 billion they have in their disaster relief fund.