America closes up shop

The days of ignoring the coronavirus are over.

The big picture: State and local governments — combined with big cultural institutions and corporations — are rapidly making social distancing a reality felt by all Americans.

• Sports leagues are going dark: The NBA, NHL, MLB and MLS are suspending or delaying their seasons. The NCAA is canceling March Madness.
• Cultural events are being canceled or postponed: Broadway in NYC is the latest to shut down, and the St. Patrick's Day parades won't march in 2020.
• Schools are shutting down or going virtual: The list of universities that aren't shutting down is becoming shorter than the ones going online.
• States like Washington and New York are going on war footings vs. the virus, with emergency declarations and grim warnings.
• Even the U.S. Capitol is closing its doors to visitors until April 1.

Between the lines: President Trump's Oval Office address last night has not been well-received, with markets plummeting and widespread confusion thanks to his false claims over how a European travel ban will be implemented.

• Epidemiologists predict numbers will still rise, and they say actions could be better put toward mitigating community spread in the U.S.
• Joe Biden blasted the administration's "colossal" failure on coronavirus testing and called for free testing plus emergency paid sick leave.
• Bernie Sanders warned that the "number of casualties may be even higher than what the armed forces experienced in WWII." (That sounds crazy until you recall the congressional doctor warned 70 million–150 million Americans may become infected.)

The bottom line: Things are likely to get much worse before they get better, as U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson told his public today:

• "This is the worst public health crisis for a generation. ... Many more families are going to lose loved ones before their time."