The global spread of the coronavirus came up during tonight's debate. The candidates were asked how they would address the growing epidemic as president.
Responding first, Sen. Klobuchar said, "What we have to do is make sure we have treatment for those Americans and that they are in a quarantine situation. We don't want to expose people, but we want to give them help."
The Minnesota Democrat encouraged people who feel sick to keep checking the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention's website because she said "many doctors are just saying it's just a matter of time before we're going to start seeing this here."
Former Vice President Joe Biden talked about his experience dealing with the Ebola outbreak during his time in the Obama administration.
"I was part of making sure that pandemic did not get to the United States, saved millions of lives. What we did, we set up, I helped set up that office in the presidency, in the president's office on diseases that are pandemic diseases. We increased the budget of the CDC, we increased the (National Institutes of Health) budget. Our President today, he's wiped all that out. We did it. We stopped it."
Biden attacked President Trump for cutting funding to the CDC. Sen. Bernie Sanders echoed that criticism of Trump.
He also went after the President for his comments that the coronavirus will stop spreading once the weather gets warmer.
"In the White House today, we have a self-described great genius — self-described — and this great genius has told us that this coronavirus is going to end in two months. April is the magical date that this great scientist we have in the White House has determined — I wish I was kidding, that is what he said."
Trump downplays coronavirus despite venting in private: