What's Happening: Mounting disruptions, plunging markets
The Associated Press | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 years, 2 months AGO
Customers have lunch with a transparent plastic panel setup on the table to isolate each others to prevent virus spreading in Hong Kong, Feb. 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Metropolitan Transportation Authority worker sanitizes surfaces at the Coney Island Yard, in the Brooklyn borough of New York on March 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Kevin Hagen)
Elderly women wearing protective face masks sit at a nursing home in Hong Kong, Feb. 14, 2020. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
A doctor takes care of people with covid-19 symptoms exits a tent used as a waiting room set up in a courtyard of the Henri Mondor Hospital in Creteil, near Paris, Monday, March 9, 2020. The coronavirus is set to strike a severe blow to French growth in 2020, cutting several decimal points off a figure that may struggle to reach one percent, the finance minister said Monday. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Inmates stand on the roof of the San Vittore prison to protest after restrictions that were imposed on family visits to prevent coronavirus transmissions, in Milan, Italy, Monday, March 9, 2020. Italian penitentiary police say six inmates protesting virus containment measures at the northern Italian prison of Modena have died after they broke into the infirmary and overdosed on methadone. The protest Sunday in Modena was among the first of more than two-dozen riots at Italy's overcrowded lock-ups that grew Monday. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
A passenger has his temperature checked as a precaution against a new coronavirus upon his arrival at the Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, March 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Inmates stand by a banner reading in Italian Pardon as they stage a protest against new rules to cope with coronavirus emergency, including the suspension of relatives' visits, on the roof of the San Vittore prison in Milan, Italy, Monday, March 9, 2020. Italy took a page from China's playbook Sunday, attempting to lock down 16 million people — more than a quarter of its population — for nearly a month to halt the relentless march of the new coronavirus across Europe. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
A woman wears a face mask in central Madrid, Spain, Monday, March 9, 2020. Health authorities in the Madrid region say that infections for the new coronavirus have more than doubled in the past 24 hours, from 202 to 436, including 16 people who have died. All the deceased had pre-existing conditions, a statement from the regional health department said on Monday. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
In this March 8, 2020, photo released by Xinhua News Agency, a staff member walks down a corridor of an empty makeshift hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province. The makeshift hospital converted from a sports venue was officially closed on Sunday after its last batch of cured COVID-19 patients were discharged. (Xiao Yijiu/Xinhua via AP)
In this March 8, 2020, photo released by Xinhua News Agency, a staff member clean up an empty makeshift hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province. The makeshift hospital converted from a sports venue was officially closed on Sunday after its last batch of cured COVID-19 patients were discharged. (Xiao Yijiu/Xinhua via AP)
Salina Grenet-Catalano, Charge D'affaires at the French Embassy in Lebanon, center, speaks with Lebanese Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti, left, as they stand next to coronavirus aid supplies delivered by the French government at the Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, March 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
An exile Tibetan wearing a mask as a precaution against a new coronavirus rotates prayer wheels at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharmsala, India, Monday, March 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)
People line up in front of a new set up test and information centre for the new coronavirus at the district Prenzlauer Berg in Berlin, Germany, Monday, March 9, 2020 (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
People line up in front of a new set up test and information centre for the new coronavirus at the district Prenzlauer Berg in Berlin, Germany, Monday, March 9, 2020 (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
A man with a mask pass an information sign directing to a new set up test and information centre for the new coronavirus at the district Prenzlauer Berg in Berlin, Germany, Monday, March 9, 2020 (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Mounting disruptions caused by the new coronavirus are prompting new travel restrictions and deepening economic worries. A majority of the world's cases of the disease are considered recovered, but the continued spread of the virus is leading to case spikes in some places.
These are some of the latest developments on Monday:
TRADING HALTED
Global stock markets and oil prices plunged, reflecting mounting alarm over closed factories, travel bans and unprecedented quarantines. An alarmingly sharp slide on Wall Street triggered the first automatic halt in trading in more than two decades. European markets entered a bear market, registering their heaviest losses since the darkest days of the 2008 meltdown. Oil prices suffered their worst losses since the start of the 1991 Gulf War.
CRUISE SHIP DOCKS
A cruise ship with with at least 21 infected people aboard was finally allowed to dock in California. The U.S. State Department advised against going on cruises for the time being. In Detroit, residents who had their water shut off because of unpaid bills could have it restored so they can wash their hands under a plan to prevent the spread of new infections. All told, the U.S. had about 600 confirmed cases Monday.
DIVIDED DINERS, SPECIAL ELEVATORS
Images from around the world illustrate the many ways the virus is altering life. In Hong Kong, customers dine at tables with clear dividers separating them. In New York, workers are sanitizing subways and buses more often. And face masks are becoming a familiar sight in more places including Iran, Italy and Nigeria. Event cancellations also continue, including St. Patrick's Day parades in Ireland, an annual Holocaust remembrance event at Auschwitz and sporting events in Italy.
ITALY'S LOCKDOWN CONFUSION
Confusion reigned across northern Italy after the government imposed strict limits on movements to contain the rapidly spreading virus in the epicenter of Europe's outbreak. Travelers at Milan’s main train station had to sign police forms certifying that they were traveling for “proven work needs,” situations of necessity, health reasons or to return home. Police officers in masks checked tickets and documents. Tensions in Italy's overcrowded prisons erupted over new containment measures, with protests in at least two-dozen lock-ups. Six prisoners died after breaking into an infirmary and overdosing on anti-psychotic medicine.
BACK TO WORK IN CHINA
Mask-clad employees began returning to work in China, but their office routines were different. In Beijing, officials are requiring employees to wear protective face masks, not to face each other while eating and to be seated at least 1 meter (3.3 feet) apart. Offices also can't have more than 50% of their usual staffing levels. Meanwhile, the country's government is deploying its propaganda playbook to portray leader Xi Jinping as firmly steering a “people’s war” against the new coronavirus.
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Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
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