WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump declared a U.S. national emergency over the quickly spreading coronavirus on Friday, opening the door to more government aid to combat a pathogen that has infected more than 138,000 people worldwide and that has killed at least 5, 374 as of now.

Spain on Friday declared it will be in a state of emergency for the next 15 days to better combat the coronavirus, a dramatic increase to the policy response that will allow authorities to confine people and ration goods.

The state of emergency, which Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced on Friday will formally be decided by a cabinet meeting on Saturday.

The impact of the coronavirus on everyday life deepened around the world. It was detected for the first time in several countries, with the World Health Organization (WHO) calling Europe the pandemic’s current epicenter. More schools and businesses closed, the global sporting calendar was left in tatters, and people faced greater restrictions on where they could go.

“To unleash the full power of the federal government to this effort today, I am officially declaring a national emergency - two very big words,” Trump said in remarks at the White House Rose Garden, adding that the U.S. situation could worsen and “the next eight weeks are critical.”

The White House has also freed up $50 billion in federal funds for the battle against the coronavirus pandemic as Trump vowed to "vastly" ramp up testing capacity.