Even before the Coronavirus surfaced in China there was lower manufacturing factory activity within the Chinese economy.  The necessary response within China to control the spread of the Coronavirus has been to shut down most commerce.  Factories, schools &  businesses throughout China are empty as various containment measures are underway.

The direct result of this response is a severe drop in economic activity.  Many analysts are speculating about how this cessation of production might impact supply chains that use Chinese component goods.  Obviously, with manufacturing facilities closed any downstream multinational company relying on those products may have supply issues as soon as existing inventories deplete.
There is a natural lag before the manufacturing void hits the consumer market; however, the financial markets are forward looking and they are already reflecting severe drops in stock prices, depending on the dependency/exposure of the company and/or sector.

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Chinese stock and commodity markets fell heavily on Monday as the death toll from a coronavirus epidemic in China rose to 361 and investors retreated into safe-haven assets in the first trading session after an extended Lunar New Year break.

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Earlier today the federal Coronavirus Task Force established by President Trump held a press conference to explain the U.S. response status and answer media questions.
The task force is being led by HHS Secretary Alex Azar and includes:  Dr. Robert Redfield, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health; Ken Cuccinelli, Acting Deputy Secretary, Department of Homeland Security; Matthew Pottinger, Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor.
[Video and Transcript Below]

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[Transcript] – SECRETARY AZAR: Well, good afternoon, everyone. I’m Alex Azar, Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Chairman of the President’s Task Force on the Novel Coronavirus.

I’m going to start by turning things over to Dr. Robert Redfield, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to discuss the current situation on the novel coronavirus. Dr. Redfield.

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In response to potential health risks; and anticipating multiple agency aspects of the U.S. government would need a unified approach; President Trump has assembled a unified task force to coordinate all response efforts across the totality of government.

[White House] – President Donald J. Trump announced the formation of the President’s Coronavirus Task Force. Members of the Task Force have been meeting on a daily basis since Monday. At today’s meeting, which the President chaired, he charged the Task Force with leading the United States Government response to the novel 2019 coronavirus and with keeping him apprised of developments.
The Task Force is led by Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, and is coordinated through the National Security Council. It is composed of subject matter experts from the White House and several United States Government agencies, and it includes some of the Nation’s foremost experts on infectious diseases.
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The Coronavirus was first first diagnosed in China less than a month ago. On Thursday (U.S.) / Friday (Beijing) the Chinese government stated they have confirmed cases of 830 patients and the death toll has risen to 25.
The virus has infected more than a dozen people outside China around the world, mostly in Asia. However, the first U.S. case has been reported in Texas who traveled to the epicenter of the outbreak, Wuhan City, China.

A total of 18 million people are now under quarantine in China.

(Via CNBC) […] Local authorities in China have quarantined Wuhan and Huanggang, which have a combined population of 17 million. Including Wuhan where the virus was first identified, travel bans were in effect Thursday for at least eight cities.
[…] The previously unknown, flu-like coronavirus strain is believed to have emerged from an animal market in central Wuhan city.

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Charity begins at home; so too does good governance.  President Trump confronts Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings with the reality of his own district in Baltimore, Maryland, and the blight that’s been neglected for decades.

It is worth remembering that Nancy Pelosi changed the House Rules last year, and specifically changed the role of Elijah Cummings.  Within the Pelosi rules [page #2], the House Oversight Committee was modified to drop all other areas of government oversight, and focus exclusively on the White House.
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The plague, also known as “the Black Death” killed somewhere between 75 and 200 million people as a result of international trade, commerce and transnational shipping. The disease was thought to be spread by fleas and parasites carried by rats.  The global population took over 400 years to recover.

Deadly Arizona Parasites

ARIZONA – Officials in two Arizona counties are warning the public after fleas in the region tested positive for the plague, the infamous infectious disease that killed millions during the Middle Ages.
Navajo County Public Health officials confirmed on Friday that fleas in the area have tested positive for the rare disease. The public health warning follows a similar notice from Coconino County Public Health Services District in Arizona warning of the presence of plague in fleas found there too.
Both counties are situated in the northern part of Arizona.

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Based on current Zika virus spread in Puerto Rico the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) now has the following projection:

[…]  “If current trends continue, thousands of pregnant women will get infected with Zika,” said Frieden. “And there could be between dozens and hundreds of children with microcephaly born [there] in the next year.”

The CDC estimates 25 percent of the island’s population could be infected with Zika in its first year of spread there. Puerto Rican women give birth to about 32,000 babies a year. (link)

Transferring the current rate of spread for the virus to the citizenry of greatest impact, based on proximity and travel, the CDC is projecting the strongest U.S. outbreaks in: (more…)

MIAMI (AP) — Mosquitoes have apparently begun spreading the Zika virus on the U.S. mainland for the first time, health officials said Friday in a long-feared turn in the epidemic that is sweeping Latin America and the Caribbean.

Four recently infected people in the Miami area – one woman and three men – are believed to have contracted the virus locally through mosquito bites, Gov. Rick Scott said.

No mosquitoes in Florida have actually been found to be carrying Zika, despite the testing of 19,000 by the state. But other methods of Zika transmission, such as travel to a stricken country or sex with an infected person, have been ruled out. (more…)

A list over over 150 renowned doctors and scientists requested the World Health Organization to postpone or move the Rio Olympics due to the ongoing Zika outbreak:

[O]ur greater concern is for global health. The Brazilian strain of Zika virus harms health in ways that science has not observed before. An unnecessary risk is posed when 500,000 foreign tourists from all countries attend the Games, potentially acquire that strain, and return home to places where it can become endemic. Should that happen to poor, as-yet unaffected places (e.g., most of South Asia and Africa) the suffering can be great. It is unethical to run the risk, just for Games that could proceed anyway, if postponed and/or moved.  (continue)

However, the World Heath Organization has rejected the request as noted by the BBC:
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Seeing this story repeated in numerous outlets, and with a growing mystery beginning to take hold, allow us to share some insight to help identify the most likely reason.

First the article: 

(Business Insider) Wal-Mart suddenly closed five stores in four states on Monday for alleged plumbing problems.

The closures could last up to six months and affect roughly 2,200 workers in Texas, California, Oklahoma, and Florida, CNN Money reports.

Wal-Mart employees say they were completely blindsided by the news, having been notified only a couple hours before the stores closed at 7 p.m. Monday.

“Everybody just panicked and started crying,” Venanzi Luna, a manager at a store in Pico Rivera, California, told CNN Money. 

All workers will receive paid leave for two months. After that, full-time workers could become eligible for severance, according to CNN Money. But part-time workers will be on their own.  (more…)