Thursday, March 12, 2020 | View in browser

Good morning.

We’re covering the growing effects of the coronavirus outbreak, Bernie Sanders’s continuing presidential campaign, and the sentencing of Harvey Weinstein.

By Chris Stanford

"This is not a financial crisis," President Trump said Wednesday. "This is just a temporary moment of time that we will overcome together as a nation and as a world." Doug Mills/The New York Times

U.S. suspends most travel from Europe

President Trump said in an Oval Office address on Wednesday that most visitors from Continental Europe would be blocked for 30 days, part of a series of measures intended to address the coronavirus outbreak.

The limits take effect on Friday and will exempt American citizens and permanent legal residents and their families. Watch video of the president’s address and read a transcript.

His remarks came hours after the World Health Organization declared the virus a pandemic, a term that it had avoided using for fear that countries would give up on containment efforts. Here are the latest updates on the virus and maps of where it has spread.

In other developments:

■ The outbreak ended one of the longest bull markets in history on Wednesday, and global stocks fell sharply again today. Here are the latest updates.

■ House Democrats plan a vote today on an emergency aid package as lawmakers discuss a broader economic stimulus measure with the White House.

■ More U.S. colleges and universities ordered students to leave campus housing as they shift to remote instruction.

■ The N.B.A. suspended its season after a player tested positive for the virus. Separately, the N.C.A.A. announced that its men’s and women’s Division I basketball tournaments would be played without spectators.

■ Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte of Italy ordered almost all businesses nationwide to close. The country has more than half of the confirmed coronavirus cases in Europe.

■ The actor Tom Hanks said that he and his wife, Rita Wilson, had tested positive for the virus. They’re in Australia, where he was set to begin production on a film.

■ What to know: The Times is providing free access to our most important updates and guidance on the outbreak.

Global response lacks coordination

Western leaders are starting to find their voice in addressing the coronavirus outbreak, but the U.S. is not playing its traditional conductor role, our London bureau chief writes in a news analysis.

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said on Wednesday that about two-thirds of the country’s population could become infected, according to a “consensus of experts.” The estimate is not wildly out of line with those of officials outside Germany.

“The Daily”: Today’s episode is about what China and South Korea have done right in their efforts to contain the virus.

Another angle: Following President Trump’s lead, many commentators on conservative media outlets have played down fears about the virus. “Sadly, these viruses pop up time to time,” the Fox New host Sean Hannity said this week. “Pandemics happen, time to time.”

A non-concession concession speech

Senator Bernie Sanders said on Wednesday that he was “losing the debate over electability” to Joe Biden but stopped short of accepting defeat in the Democratic presidential race, as he challenged the former vice president to address a list of policy issues, including health care and income inequality.

News analysis: “Despite Mr. Biden’s success during the last two weeks of primaries, he will need to make gains with some key Sanders constituencies — not only younger liberals but also Latinos across several age brackets — to build the most formidable coalition possible,” our reporters write. “He will almost certainly need Mr. Sanders’s help to get there.”

The details: If Mr. Sanders were to have any chance at winning a majority of delegates before the Democratic convention, he would need to perform much better than he has so far. Here are some possible outcomes for the remaining primaries.

Another angle: President Trump’s re-election campaign was counting on a strong economy and an opponent in Mr. Sanders, who is easily portrayed as too far left. But the coronavirus outbreak and Mr. Biden’s surge have shifted the political landscape.

If you have some time, this is worth it

25 songs that matter now

Arielle Bobb-Willis for The New York Times

The Times Magazine’s annual music issue is here, featuring artists including Lil Nas X, above.

The songs range from the overwhelmingly popular to the fairly obscure, but they almost all have something in common: the willingness to simply be what they are, and to let things fall where they may. Listen for yourself.

Here’s what else is happening

Harvey Weinstein sentencing: The movie producer who dominated Hollywood for decades could spend the rest of his life behind bars, after being sentenced to 23 years in prison for sex crimes. “Although this is a first conviction, it is not a first offense,” the judge said.

Service member deaths: A rocket attack on a military base in Iraq killed three coalition troops, two American and one British, according to officials. It was not immediately clear who carried out the attack.

Cap on insulin costs: A Medicare pilot program would lower the cost to $35 a prescription for older Americans who need the lifesaving drugs, the Trump administration announced.

Lida Xing

Snapshot: Above, a skull — suspended in amber — from the smallest dinosaur ever discovered. Not even the size of a fingertip, the 99-million-year-old fossil, which was found in a mine in northern Myanmar, raises questions about how birds evolved.

Late-night comedy: “It’s only March, and 2020 has done the impossible: made me nostalgic for 2019,” Stephen Colbert said. The hosts announced that they would be audience-free starting next week because of the coronavirus outbreak.

What we’re reading: This How I Get It Done column from “The Cut.” “Our colleague Parul Sehgal haunts me since she apparently can read a book in one sitting?” writes Taffy Brodesser-Akner, a writer for The Times Magazine.

Now, a break from the news

Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Cook: This Campari and olive oil cake is best served on the same day that it’s baked.

Watch: The new season of HBO’s “Westworld” mostly abandons the Western setting. But will sleek new scenery and a new star, Aaron Paul, win back those put off by a convoluted story?

Read: “John Adams Under Fire,” about the second U.S. president’s time as a defense lawyer, is new this week on our hardcover nonfiction and combined print and e-book nonfiction best-seller lists.

Smarter Living: Want to get on top of your to-do list? Try our seven-day productivity challenge.

And now for the Back Story on …

Flattening the curve

An infographic showing two possible outcomes for the coronavirus pandemic — one dire, one less so — has quickly become a defining image of the crisis.

“This graph is changing minds, and by changing minds, it is saving lives,” tweeted Carl Bergstrom, a professor of biology at the University of Washington.

Drew Harris

The first version of the graph was created at the end of February by Rosamund Pearce, a visual-data journalist for The Economist, drawing from a C.D.C. paper titled “Community Mitigation Guidelines to Prevent Pandemic Influenza.”

It shows two curves for the epidemic over time: A steep peak, if no protective measures are taken, and a flatter slope if people wash their hands, limit travel and practice “social distancing” techniques.

A few days after seeing the Economist infographic, Drew Harris, a population health analyst at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, added a crucial component: a dotted line indicating the capacity of the health care system to care for people with the virus. He posted it on Twitter and LinkedIn, where it quickly took off.

“Now I know what going viral means,” Dr. Harris told our colleague Siobhan Roberts.

Flattening the curve with mitigation “reduces the number of cases that are active at any given time, which in turn gives doctors, hospitals, police, schools and vaccine manufacturers time to prepare and respond, without becoming overwhelmed,” he said.

Dr. Harris added: “Some commentators have argued for getting the outbreak over with quickly. That is a recipe for panic, unnecessary suffering and death. Slowing and spreading out the tidal wave of cases will save lives. Flattening the curve keeps society going.”

That’s it for this briefing. See you next time.

— Chris

Thank you
Mark Josephson, Eleanor Stanford and Chris Harcum provided the break from the news. Adam Pasick, on the Briefings team, wrote today’s Back Story. You can reach us at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S.
• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Today’s episode is about the global response to the coronavirus outbreak.
• Here’s today’s Mini Crossword, and a clue: Not silent (five letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• The Climate desk welcomes Catrin Einhorn, a journalist with experience in film, audio and visual storytelling who will cover wildlife and extinction.