NEW YORK -- With masks, ventilators and political goodwill in short supply, more than one-fifth of the world's population was ordered or urged to stay in their homes Monday at the start of what could be a pivotal week in the battle to contain the coronavirus in the U.S. and Europe.
Partisan divisions stalled efforts to pass a colossal aid package in Congress, and stocks fell again on Wall Street even after the Federal Reserve said it will lend to small and large businesses and local governments to help them through the crisis. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 582 points, or 3%.
Warning that the outbreak continues to accelerate, the head of the World Health Organization called on countries to take strong, coordinated action.
"We are not helpless bystanders," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, noting that it took 67 days to reach 100,000 cases worldwide but just four days to go from 200,000 to 300,000. "We can change the trajectory of this pandemic."
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Worldwide, more than 378,000 people have been infected and over 16,000 have died from the virus, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. More than 1.5 billion people around the globe have been instructed to stay in their homes.
Britain joined other countries in ordering residents to restrict their movements, imposing its most draconian restrictions ever in peacetime.
The scramble to marshal public health and political resources intensified in New York, where a statewide lockdown took effect amid worries the city of 8.4 million is becoming one of the world's biggest hot spots. More than 12,000 people have tested positive in the city and almost 100 have died.
The governor announced plans to convert a mammoth New York City convention center into a hospital with 1,000 beds. Meanwhile, the mayor warned that the city's hospitals are just 10 days away from shortages in basic supplies needed to protect health care workers and patients alike.
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"This is going to get much worse before it gets better. We are still in the relative calm before the storm," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.
GLIMMER OF HOPE
In Italy, the hardest-hit country of all, declines in both new cases and deaths for a second consecutive day provided a faint glimmer of hope, though it is too soon to say whether the crisis is leveling off.
Italian officials said Monday that the virus had claimed just over 600 more lives, down from 793 two days earlier. All told, the outbreak has killed more than 6,000 Italians, the highest death toll of any country, and pushed the health system to the breaking point there and in Spain.
The risk to doctors, nurses and others on the front lines has become plain: Italy has seen at least 18 doctors with coronavirus die. Spain reported that more than 3,900 health care workers have become infected, accounting for roughly 12% of the country's total cases.
British health workers pleaded for more gear, saying they felt like "cannon fodder." In France, doctors scrounged masks from construction workers, factory floors and an architect.
"There's a wild race to get surgical masks," Francois Blanchecott, a biologist on the front lines of testing, told France Inter radio. "We're asking mayors' offices, industries, any enterprises that might have a store of masks."
The way U.S. officials respond to the severe pressure on hospitals -- and people's willingness to keep their distance from others -- will prove critical in coming days, public health experts said.
"Actions taken right now will have a huge impact on the course of this epidemic in the U.S.," said Josh Michaud, associate director of global health policy with the Kaiser Family Foundation in Washington. "It's an important moment."
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday night directed residents to stay home with a few exceptions, and ordered shops that don't sell essential goods to shut down. He called it a critical step to prevent the virus from spreading and warned that police would be authorized to break up public gatherings of more than two people.
New infections are increasing at an exponential rate, raising concern that the United Kingdom will be on a trajectory like Italy's in a week or two if containment efforts don't work.
MORE SHUTDOWNS
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an immediate cease-fire in conflicts around the world to tackle the pandemic.
"It is time to put armed conflict on lockdown and focus together on the true fight of our lives," he said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel tested negative after putting herself in quarantine, a spokesman said.
India took the extraordinary step of shutting down the nation's vast rail system, the lifeblood of the country of 1.3 billion people.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe acknowledged that postponing this year's Summer Olympics in Tokyo could be unavoidable. The International Olympic Committee said it will examine the situation over the next few weeks.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Monday that nonessential businesses must close for at least 14 days starting at 11:59 p.m. today. Quebec Premier Francois Legault announced a similar shutdown in his province, lasting until April 13.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said earlier Monday that images of people out enjoying the sunshine in large groups was "extremely concerning," and said, "Enough is enough. Go home and stay home."
The crisis kept easing in China. The city of Wuhan, where the outbreak first emerged late last year, said it is allowing residents limited movement as its lockdown is gradually relaxed. China is now sending planeloads of protective gear and doctors to Europe.
"The U.S. is completely wasting the precious time that China has won for the world," said Geng Shuang, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government's top infectious-disease expert, promised that medical supplies are about to start pouring in and will be "clearly directed to those hot spots that need it most."
MORE STATES ACT
After just a few weeks, the U.S. has more than 43,200 cases and more than 500 deaths. Indiana, Michigan and West Virginia joined states including California, Illinois and New York in asking or ordering their residents to stay home and keep businesses closed -- directives that now cover more than one-third of the U.S. population.
A St. Louis woman in her 30s died from covid-19, and officials said Monday that they are still trying to figure out how she got the disease caused by the coronavirus.
The death was the fourth in Missouri, and her relative youth "is a cause for concern for us," Dr. Fredrick Echols, the city's health director, said at a news conference. He said the woman was hospitalized Sunday, though he declined to provide further personal details about her.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., the former presidential candidate, disclosed that her husband has been hospitalized with the virus.
Industries big and small continued to shut down. Boeing announced it is suspending production in the Seattle area, where it has two aircraft plants employing about 42,000 people.
For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever or coughing. But for some older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. More than 100,000 people have recovered, mostly in China.
Information for this article was contributed by Rob Gillies, Jim Salter, Margaret Stafford, Summer Ballentine and staff members of The Associated Press.
A Section on 03/24/2020