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Good morning.

I'm James Holman from the Washington Post and this is the Daily 202 for Thursday, March 12th.

In today's news, the coronavirus can live on some surfaces for up to three days. The first layoffs from the pandemic are here.

And people are trapped in their homes with the dead bodies of loved ones amid the lockdown in Italy,

a taste of how much worse things could get.

But first, the big idea. President Trump's order banning travel from Europe for 30 days

due to the coronavirus outbreak compounded the upheaval in global markets overnight

as fears of a worldwide recession mounted and Americans faced expanding restrictions at home.

European stocks sank to their lowest level in four years after the Dow

entered bear market territory yesterday.

European Union officials were blindsided by Trump's announcement during an address in the Oval Office that

non-Americans won't be able to fly into the US from continental Europe after midnight

tomorrow. It was a surprise decision that caught many on the other side of the pond as political above all,

especially because Britain was exempted, even though there are more cases there than on several countries

across the continent. Under previous presidents, the United States has often taken the lead in directing a coordinated global response to world challenges.

But Trump has sought to minimize the virus, undermine his scientific advisors, and blame other countries for the pandemic.

The virus, which the World Health Organization has now labeled a pandemic, continues to spread widely across the United States. More than 1,300

cases have been reported in our country with at least 37 deaths, including five

new fatalities reported overnight.

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