What's Happening: People separated, China closing Everest

People around the world have become increasingly isolated from each other due to a mounting number of travel bans, school closures and canceled public events.

These are some of the latest developments on Thursday:

REGIONS ARE BEING KEPT APART

A day after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, people across the world were facing the prospect of being stuck where they are for the foreseeable future. Strict bans on travel from much of Europe to the United States are to begin this weekend, while the U.S. State Department warned Americans to reconsider foreign travel. Austria's 25,000 police officers were told they were not allowed to take any vacation at least until the end of April, a measure aimed at having enough officers to ensure order.

ITALIANS WAKE UP TO EVEN MORE RESTRICTIONS

In Italy, one of the world's hardest hit countries, people woke up to yet further virus-containment restrictions. Premier Giuseppe Conte ordered restaurants, cafes and retail shops closed after imposing a nationwide lockdown on personal movement. Jewelry and clothing shops that on Tuesday and Wednesday had posted signs urging customers to queue up out the door a meter (3.3 feet) apart were closed until further notice. Supermarkets, pharmacies and outdoor markets were still open and supermarkets in particular had hours-long lines of customers queued up waiting to go inside a few at a time.

MARKETS SINK EVEN FURTHER

The massive sell-off that caused markets to plunge in response to the outbreak got even worse. European stocks tumbled 10%, despite moves by the European Central Bank to boost the economy. In Asia, stocks in Thailand and the Philippines fell so fast that trading was temporarily halted. And on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was...