What Is Your Reaction to the Latest News About the Coronavirus Outbreak?

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What Is Your Reaction to the Latest News About the Coronavirus Outbreak?

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This week, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak to be a pandemic. And in the past 48 hours, we have seen a dramatic turn of events in the United States affecting virtually all aspects of our lives, from our schools to the economy, from travel to the world of entertainment.

Below are excerpts from four of this week’s big stories related to the outbreak. And, you can find all the latest New York Times coronavirus-related reporting here.

The N.B.A. abruptly suspended its season on Wednesday after a Utah Jazz player was found to have tested positive for coronavirus moments before a game began in Oklahoma City.

The league announced that the suspension would begin on Thursday, but the final game of Wednesday’s slate, between the Sacramento Kings and New Orleans Pelicans, was canceled soon after the announcement.

It was a surreal day for the N.B.A. — starting with the news that one team, the Golden State Warriors, was barring fans from home games, and ending with the season in peril for the entire league.

“The N.B.A. will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic,” the league said in its statement Wednesday night.

The day after colleges across the country suspended classes over fears of the coronavirus, Abigail Lockhart-Calpito, a freshman from San Antonio, ran across the Harvard campus trying to get answers.

Her lectures were being replaced by online classes. Her residence hall was being cleared out. She, like thousands of others in her shoes, had a million questions: What was going to happen to her financial aid? Where would she stay? What about her credits?

The abrupt disruption of the semester caused widespread concern and a feeling of chaos on campuses across the country. Administrators saw spring break as a chance to reset the clock in the battle against the coronavirus. One after the other, like dominoes, they announced they were suspending classes and asking students to pack up and go.

… On Wednesday, the closures continued. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York declared that the state and city university systems would move to distance learning, as did the University of Pennsylvania, several California State campuses, the Claremont Colleges, Iowa State, Georgetown, Pepperdine, Villanova, Notre Dame, Michigan State and Washington University in St. Louis, among others.

The coronavirus outbreak ended one of the longest winning streaks in market history on Wednesday as the Dow Jones industrial average plunged and global policymakers grappled with the growing economic crisis.

The Dow closed with a loss of nearly 6 percent. That brought the decline from its most recent peak to more than 20 percent, the threshold that defines a bear market, after the Dow’s 11-year run in bull-market territory.

The broader S&P 500 was off nearly 5 percent for the day, though down less than 20 percent from its peak less than a month ago. On Thursday, stocks in the Asia-Pacific region again fell broadly, with shares in Japan down more than 5 percent at midday. Futures markets signaled grim news for Wall Street.

The full economic toll of the outbreak will not be clear for months. But there is mounting evidence that it will be severe.

President Trump on Wednesday night blocked most visitors from continental Europe to the United States and vowed emergency aid to workers and small businesses as the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic, stock markets plunged further and millions of people cut themselves off from their regular lives.

In a prime-time address from the Oval Office, Mr. Trump outlined a series of measures intended to tackle the virus and its economic impact as he sought to reassure Americans that he was taking the crisis seriously after previously playing down the scope of the outbreak. He said he would halt travelers from Europe other than Britain for 30 days and asked Congress to support measures like a payroll tax cut.

“The virus will not have a chance against us,” Mr. Trump declared in his 10-minute speech, reading from a teleprompter in an uncharacteristic monotone. After weeks of quarreling with rivals over his response, even calling their criticisms a “hoax,” he called on them to stand down. “We are all in this together,” he said. “We must put politics aside, stop the partisanship and unify together as one nation and one family.”

  • What is your reaction to the latest developments in the coronavirus outbreak? Do they make you more concerned about the virus than before? What new questions do you have about the outbreak and its impact on our lives?

  • How will this week’s events affect you, your family and your community? Will they change how you think about and prepare for the possible spread of the virus to where you live?

  • How much have you been reading and keeping up with the news on the coronavirus? How do you sort through the misinformation? How much are you discussing the virus and its impact in your school? With your friends and family?

  • Have you changed your behavior in light of the virus? Do you wash your hands more regularly? Have you incorporated “social distancing” strategies into your everyday life? Will you do so more now?

  • How well do you think our leaders — local, state and federal, as well as health care, business and political — have responded to the crisis? What, if anything, would you like to see them do differently or better?

  • What weaknesses — and what strengths — is the coronavirus outbreak exposing in our society? What lessons can we learn from this crisis? How should we apply those lessons?