bill o’leAry/tHe wAsHington post

president trump leads a news conference on the coronavirus

outbreak at the White House on Friday. Among the initiatives the

president announced was accelerated testing for the virus.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Kaiser Permanente clinicians take swabs at a drive-through testing station

Thursday in San Francisco; Syracuse University students say goodbye as they leave the New York campus Friday;

Regina Jones disinfects a school bus in Vicksburg, Miss.; and shoppers stock up at a Costco in the District.

micHAel sHort for tHe wAsHington post

micHAel s. williAmson/tHe wAsHington post

mArAnie stAAb/reuters

courtlAnd wells/VicKsburg post/AssociAted press

BY ABHA BHATTARAI

AND LAURA REILEY

As the coronavirus pandemic
intensifies, the companies that
feed America and provide basic
staples are bracing for labor
shortages, which could leave
them w ithout enough workers t o
produce, deliver and unpack gro-
ceries in stores in the coming
months.
Amid the virus’s spread, super-
markets and distribution centers
face a difficult choice: how to
keep shelves stocked with essen-
tials while keeping their workers
safe.
Already, some chains are ra-
tioning products as shelves emp-
ty o f pasta, rice and frozen vegeta-
bles and anxious customers wait
in long lines for toilet paper and
bottled water — in scenes similar
to those seen before a hurricane,
yet this time unfolding on a
national scale.
In the District, hundreds of
people waited in lines that
snaked far into stores and some-
times onto sidewalks at Walmart,
Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s this
week as consumers stocked up on
supplies including canned tuna
and cartons of premade soups.
Cases of chicken, beef and
frozen vegetables were largely
wiped out at a Whole Foods near
American University in the Dis-
trict’s northwest. At the Trader
Joe’s in Ta mpa, the pasta and
tomato sauce aisle was empty
Friday afternoon, and the salty
snacks were depleted (there was
still plenty of $3 chardonnay on
offer, however).
Food producers and supply
chain managers say there is gen-
erally enough nonperishable food
see grocerIes on A

Food supply

challenges:

Hoarding and

sick workers

BY NICK ANDERSON,

SUSAN SVRLUGA

AND LAUREN LUMPKIN

Colleges run on routines and

rituals.

students and parents watch

the calendar from drop-off day

through graduation, one term

after another. Midterms come

and go, and spring break offers

a respite before the last push to

final exams and summer.

The coronavirus pandemic

smashed all the routines this

week, forcing h undreds of t hou-

sands of undergraduates to

scatter from campuses around

the country, return from study

abroad and hunker down at

home. They will still be taking

classes, but remotely, with cell-

phones and laptops for at least

a few weeks and perhaps the

rest of the school year.

“I don’t want to go home,”

said Rebecca Gibbons, a fresh-

man from the eastern shore

studying chemical engineering

at the University of Maryland.

she was among the stunned

students packing up this week

without any idea of when

they’ll return to College Park. “I

just know that being in class

and being able to ask questions

and being able to physically see

the professor writing down ev-

ery step is important. It’s just

going to be very difficult.”

on Friday, the fast-moving

crisis rocked another public

flagship. The University of Te x-

as shut down abruptly, just

before spring break, because it

had its first confirmed case of

covid-19.

see colleges on A

No facet of university life

is untouched by crisis

BY MARC FISHER

In fictional imaginings of a

lethal pandemic, a visceral pan-

ic often sweeps through fright-

ened crowds and leads to decid-

edly uncivilized behavior.

In “World War Z,” the 2006

novel that became a top-gross-

ing movie, a virus that spreads

from China turns half the

world’s population into zom-

bies. People do not react well.

Mayhem — a “Great Panic” of

looting, crime and mass migra-

tion — ensues. similar chaos

erupts in the long-running TV

series “The Walking Dead,”

“Panic in the streets” (1950)

and “Contagion,” the 2011 film

that is suddenly a streaming

hit.

In real life, however, the coro-

navirus pandemic now spread-

ing across the planet has trig-

gered little in the way of visible

public panic. In the District, far

from ostracizing those who may

be vectors for the bug, people

have rallied around the church

where the city’s first case ap-

peared. In t he seattle area, so far

the hardest-hit U.s. region, sto-

ries abound of neighbors help-

ing one another. And in Italy,

where the government has tak-

en extraordinary measures to

shut down public life, calm has

prevailed even as hospitals con-

sider harsh decisions to ration

medical care to people with the

best chances to survive.

Certainly, some degree of

panic has been evident in the

severe sell-off on Wall street and

the rush to stock “pandemic

pantries,” as Americans in some

see pAnIc on A

The thin line between

prudence and panic

BY LOVEDAY MORRIS

AND WILLIAM BOOTH

berlin — some of the world’s

top experts tracking the spread

of the novel coronavirus predict

that in a matter of weeks, much

of europe could be facing a surge

in cases similar to the one that

has locked down Italy, over-

whelmed its hospitals in the

north a nd brought the c ountry o f

60 million to a standstill.

Mathematical models devel-

oped by epidemiologists to track

the virus show a sharp trajectory

of infections in spain, Germany,

France and Britain. spain, which

declared a state of emergency

Friday, showed particularly con-

cerning exponential growth, ex-

perts said.

The modelers in europe say a

similar arc is likely in the United

states, but anticipating the

spread is made more difficult by

the lack of widespread testing.

U.s. officials are working with 50

academic modeling groups, but

no forecasts have been released

by the Centers for Disease Con-

trol and Prevention or the White

House’s coronavirus task force.

one model, for the American

Hospital Association, projects a

worst-case scenario of hundreds

of thousands of deaths.

“Italy is about two weeks ahead

of Britain and the rest of europe,”

said Francois Balloux, director of

the Genetics Institute at Univer-

sity College London.

o bservations by epidemiolo-

gists show that if unchecked, the

number of infections doubles ap-

proximately every five days, with

infected individuals capable of

passing the virus to an average of

about 2.5 people.

see europe on A

Experts

expect a surge

like Italy’s

across Europe

rAnitA roy for tHe wAsHington post

CONTENT © 2020

The Washington Post / Year 143, No. 100

busIness news ............................................... A

ComICs ............................................................. C

opInIon pAges...............................................A

lotterIes.........................................................b

obItuArIes ...................................................... b

teleVIsIon ....................................................... C

world news....................................................A

∠∠A keen eye In India, a

photographer captures the

ever-shifting essence of her

homeland, across all

segments of society, moment

by moment. Magazine

You’re going where?

California’s Palm Springs,

long the desert-resort darling

of Los Angeles, is also

drawing far-off fans for its

range of charms. Travel

Alda time At 84, A lan Alda

— who made a career out of

playing the smart guy — h as

decades of wisdom to share.

Most of all, he wants to teach

people how to better

communicate with each

other. Arts & Style

IN SUNDAY’S POST

$ 236

jesse ditmAr for tHe wAsHington post

Inside

reAl estAte

renting to own

the benefits of moving in now, but

buying later, have begun to spark

interest among some shoppers.

tHe world

shrouded in secrecy

A year after a ttacks on new

Zealand mosques, suppression

orders mask evidence. A

tHe world

u.s. defends attacks

the united states and iraq

wrangled over airstrikes to avenge

fallen coalition soldiers. A

tHe dIstrICt

racine to run again

the city’s first elected attorney

general will seek a third term, but

hasn’t ruled out a mayoral run. b

More coverage

relief: the House moves toward
approval of an economic deal. A

panic on study abroad: turmoil
for u.s. students in europe. A

testing: private sector to partner
on drive-up sites, tr ump says. A

south Korea: publishing p atients’
movements raises concerns. A

local actions: metro will cut back
service; all schools to close. b

new normal: our way of life is
being upended. for how long? C

Preparations and precautions

ThursdayFriday

Dow Jones industrial average

23,185.

Wednesday

closing

Trump’s news

conference begins

23,553.

23,

22,

21,

Capping a tumultuous week

stocks surge after the president’s

emergency declaration. A

ABCDE

Prices may vary in areas outside metropolitan Washington. su V1 V2 V3 V

Partly sunny, cooler 58/42 • Tomorrow: Mostly cloudy 53/39 B8 Democracy Dies in Darkness SATURDAy, MARCH 14 , 2020. $

BY KATIE ZEZIMA,

JOEL ACHENBACH,

TIM CRAIG

AND LENA H. SUN

Much of life in America, and
across the globe, has ground to a
near halt in recent days as the
coronavirus spreads, closing
schools, thwarting travel, forcing
employees to telework and shut-
tering beloved institutions. Au-
thorities now believe the out-
break could fundamentally up-
end society for months.
The sweeping, unprecedented
shutdown of activity in the Unit-
ed states accelerated in seeming-
ly no time, with the week starting

out like almost any other and

ending in a way few can compre-

hend.

President Trump declared the

virus a national emergency Fri-

day, which can be helpful for

marshaling resources, and Con-

gress reached a deal on a broad

relief package. Governors in

Pennsylvania and Virginia closed

schools, bringing the total to 12

states and the District. Iconic

events including the Masters golf

tournament and the Boston Mar-

athon were canceled. A rash of

panic buying emptied shelves na-

tionwide as people hoarded fro-

zen food, toilet paper, bottled

see VIrus on A

P andemic takes a dramatic toll

as institutions, routines shut down

BY ANNE GEARAN

AND TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA

President Trump declared a na-

tional emergency to confront the

spread of the coronavirus Friday

as his administration reached an

agreement with House Democrats

on a bipartisan economic relief

package for A mericans affected by

the g lobal pandemic.

Trump made t he e mergency an-

nouncement during a news con-

ference in the Rose Garden in

which he repeatedly praised his

handling of the crisis, denied re-

sponsibility for his administra-

tion’s missteps and said for the

first time that he would likely un-

dergo testing for the coronavirus

after coming into contact with an

infected man.

“The action I am taking will

open up a ccess to up to $50 billion

of very important and a large

amount of money for states and

territories and localities,” he said,

adding that he had reached a new

partnership with private compa-

nies to “vastly increase and accel-

erate our capacity to test for the

coronavirus.”

But in the hours after Trump

concluded his remarks, questions

began to be raised about the new

programs he described and what

he was looking for out of Congress.

see trump on A

Economic aid deal brokered amid

expanding nationwide tumult

Trump declares a national emergency