The rapid spread of the coronavirus on 3 continents (in 50 countries) raised fears of a pandemic. The World Health Organization reiterated its warning that the coronavirus could reach most "if not all countries” which wiped $5 trillion off world markets.

The U.S. Center For Disease (CDC) broadened surveillance requirements while problems surfaced with the agency’s test kits and a whistleblower case accusing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services of failing to give protective equipment or training to dozens of federal workers who helped receive planes carrying repatriated Americans who were evacuated from Wuhan, China.