One by one, more and more countries are reporting cases of the new coronavirus. Governments and doctors on the front lines are scrambling for solutions and everyday life around the globe is being disrupted in a manner that’s not been seen in recent times.
The spread of the virus is having an impact around the world. Here are some of the latest developments:
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LOOKING FOR CONNECTIONS
From California to Italy, France, Germany, Spain and beyond, more cases are popping up in which the source of the virus remains a mystery. People who weren’t exposed through travel or contact with someone previously infected are testing positive. Health authorities in all these places are working hard to find the original source of infection using what’s called contact tracing, or finding all the people the latest patients were in contact with. In a highly mobile world, that’s increasingly difficult.
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MARKETS DIVE DEEPER
U.S. President Donald Trump had reason to worry as stocks tanked further on fears about the virus’ global spread. And not only Trump: all gains built up this year have been wiped out – and more. No region is immune. Standout losers Thursday were Britain’s FTSE 100 index, which slid 3.5% and Japan’s Nikkei, which ended 2% lower. It’s not looking much better on Wall Street, where both the Dow Jones industrial average and the broader S&P 500 index are down. A global pandemic that leads to barriers and restrictions has the potential to seriously disrupt the global economy by draining confidence and stalling activity. A more protracted panic on stock markets could perpetuate the downturn — and that’s bad news in an election year.