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As the week progressed, growing concerns over the rapid spread of coronavirus<\/strong> took hold of cultural events and international travel and trade. At the start of the week, a public health emergency for the Coachella Valley brought the cancellations of the Indian Wells Masters tournament<\/a>, the biggest event on the tennis calendar outside of the four Grand Slams<\/a>, and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival<\/a>, which followed hot on the heels of the postponements of Ultra Music Festival and South by Southwest<\/a>. By the middle of the week the World Health Organization had officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span>, Angela Merkel warned that up to 70% of the German population could catch the virus<\/a>, and the United States took the major step of suspending most travel from Europe for a provisional thirty days<\/a>.<\/p>\n The sporting world was further rocked in America upon the suspension of the NBA season<\/a>, and film fans gasped at the news that Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson had tested positive for the disease<\/a>. On Thursday Broadway sent its regards but drew its curtains<\/a>, and the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam followed the Louvre in Paris by shutting their doors to the public, as the Netherlands banned gatherings of more than 100 people<\/a>. Meanwhile stock markets suffered their worst day since Black Monday in 1987<\/a>, though they had rebounded by the close of business on Friday afternoon<\/a>. Serie A matches had already been cancelled<\/a> as Italy emerged as the new epicentre of the virus<\/a>, and more football followed suit, with the Premier League and other football across the United Kingdom called to a halt just prior to the weekend.<\/a> Likewise with Ligue 1<\/a>, the Bundesliga<\/a>, and La Liga<\/a>, despite suggestions that some matches would take place out of view.<\/p>\n Italy led the way last weekend with a quarantine of 16 million people in the country’s northern regions including Lombardy. As the week began, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conti extended the emergency measures nationwide<\/a>, enforcing travel restrictions and a ban on public gatherings, and advising people to work from home while confirming sports bans and the closure of schools. On Wednesday the restrictions were tightened further<\/a> with all shops, bars, and restaurants beyond pharmacies and supermarkets ordered to close. As the weekend neared Germany<\/a> followed Denmark, Poland, and the Czech Republic<\/a> in announcing border controls, and Spain and France echoed Italy’s emergency measures<\/a>. Ireland shut its pubs<\/a>, the Netherlands closed its coffee shops<\/a>, and Austria banned gatherings of more than five while telling residents to stay home<\/a>.<\/p>\n Donald Trump’s impromptu suspension of European travel caused havoc at airports on Sunday morning<\/a>, as citizens attempting to return to the United States faced screenings and the perversity of jam-packed terminals and long queues, especially at Chicago’s O’Hare International. As cases grew and the virus began showing signs of community transmission, South African president Cyril Ramaphosa declared a state of disaster<\/a>. Countries began looking towards success stories in South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan<\/a>. By Sunday COVID-19 was in 143 countries, with 153,517 cases and 5,735 deaths worldwide<\/a>. The bulk of the devastation remained in China, even as a dramatic fall in the number of new cases and deaths allowed the easing of quarantine measures<\/a>. Yet by Sunday afternoon Italy reported another steep jump from 1,441 to 1,809 deaths, an increase of 25% on Saturday as cases also soared to 24,747<\/a>.\u00a0With 13,938 cases and 724 deaths, Iran lagged precariously behind<\/a>.<\/p>\n