Outside of Europe, in the United States, the death toll has risen quite slowly compared to other nations so far, but the trajectory for New York's mortality curve is much steeper, suggesting it could overtake Madrid.

But the lesson of the new coronavirus is not that globalization failed. The lesson is that globalization is fragile, despite or even because of its benefits. Lack of fail-safe manufacturing alternatives can cause supply chains to break down, as they have in some medical and health-related sectors as a result of the new coronavirus. Producers of vital medical supplies have been overwhelmed by a surge in global demand, pitting countries against one another in a competition for resources.

The conventional wisdom about globalization is that it created a thriving international marketplace, allowing manufacturers to build flexible supply chains by substituting one supplier or component for another as needed. But globalization also created a complex system of interdependence. Companies embraced global supply chains, giving rise to a tangled web of production networks that wove the world economy together.

As policymakers around the world struggle to deal with the new coronavirus and its aftermath, they will have to confront the fact that the global economy doesn’t work as they thought it did. Globalization calls for an ever-increasing specialization of labor across countries, a model that creates extraordinary efficiencies but also extraordinary vulnerabilities. Shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic reveal these vulnerabilities. Single-source providers, or regions of the world that specialize in one particular product, can create unexpected fragility in moments of crisis, causing supply chains to break down. In the coming months, many more of these vulnerabilities will be exposed.

The reality, however, is that the American economy lacks resilience in time of crisis. The ongoing trade war with China, combined with a depressed global oil market, were in the process of exposing this reality before the coronavirus pandemic. The national lockdown, and resulting economic stoppage, only accelerated what was a gradual economic recession in progress. Even if the US economy could be taken off stimulus-driven life support, the conditions that preceded the shutdown still exist and, if anything, have only been exacerbated by the impact of the pandemic on global economic health.

Trump is wrestling with the horrible reality that in order to take the American economy off government life support, he must lift the restrictions on socializing that were imposed to slow down and reduce the human-to-human transmission of the coronavirus disease. Whether this move is economically sound, medically advisable or politically viable has yet to be seen. But one thing is for certain – the US is at a crossroads in its history.

The status of the United States as a global leader over the past seven decades has been built not just on wealth and power but also, and just as important, on the legitimacy that flows from the United States’ domestic governance, provision of global public goods, and ability and willingness to muster and coordinate a global response to crises. The coronavirus pandemic is testing all elements of US leadership. So far, Washington is failing the test.

As Washington falters, Beijing is moving quickly and adeptly to take advantage of the opening created by US mistakes, filling the vacuum to position itself as the global leader in pandemic response. It is working to tout its own system, provide material assistance to other countries, and even organize other governments. The sheer chutzpah of China’s move is hard to overstate. After all, it was Beijing’s own missteps — especially its efforts at first to cover up the severity and spread of the outbreak — that helped create the very crisis now afflicting much of the world. Yet Beijing understands that if it is seen as leading, and Washington is seen as unable or unwilling to do so, this perception could fundamentally alter the United States’ position in global politics and the contest for leadership in the twenty-first century.

Other premises including libraries, playgrounds and outdoor gyms, and places of worship must also close immediately. Parks will remain open for exercise but gatherings will be dispersed.

The government is also stopping all social events, including weddings, baptisms and other ceremonies - but funerals will be allowed.

Mr Johnson said the restrictions would be kept under constant review. "We will look again in three weeks, and relax them if the evidence shows we are able to," he added.

One more strong earthquake shook Zagreb at 7 am. Material damage on buildings in the centre of the city was visible, including the top of Zagreb’s Cathedral. There was an electricity outage in some residential areas.

Mr Netanyahu made his proposal during a television interview, calling for the formation of a three-year 'emergency' unity government with the rival Blue and White Party. With the public largely confined to their homes, the economy appears to be in great danger, with tens of thousands of people losing their jobs.

Israel this month held its third inconclusive election in under a year. Mr Netanyahu's Likud emerged as the largest single party, but fell short of securing a required parliamentary majority.

The overall price tag of the package is more than $1 trillion, making it one of the largest federal emergency fiscal packages ever assembled.

The US debt is soaring, and the country has kicked the can down the road so many times on entitlement spending. It may be entering into unprecedented and dangerous territory, and hastening a reckoning it has been trying to avoid.

The Palestinian leaders, who are pursuing their efforts to prosecute Israelis for "war crimes," have been concealing from their own people and the international community the fact that Israel is assisting them in the war on the coronavirus.

For Palestinian leaders, it seems that the war on Israel is more important than the battle against a pandemic and saving the lives of their own people. Yet, these leaders and their families, if they are diagnosed with the disease, will undoubtedly be the first to rush to Israel to seek medical treatment there.

The departure of the Bundeswehr from the exercises of Defender Europe 20 means a stop on the entire supply line of military equipment and weapons for the exercises. According to the AFP news agency, the further transfer of American soldiers to exercises from the US through German airports has been stopped. This means the actual curtailment of the teachings.

Recall also that earlier the Norwegian authorities decided to cancel the rest of the NATO Cold Response 20 exercises. As reported on the eve of March 11, the US European Command (EUCOM), this is due to precautionary measures in connection with the outbreak of the coronavirus COVID-19.

Cressman works at Locust Watch, a division of the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization, which gives emergency assistance to countries facing desert locust invasions and constantly monitors the status of potential infestations. According to the organization’s most recent forecast report, there are new “extremely alarming” swarms forming in Horn of Africa. Cressman, who has worked with the organization for over three decades, told The Times of Israel on Monday that the previous time the region has been in such danger was during the plague of 1987-1989.

The Desert Locust (Schistocerca gregaria) “is the most destructive migratory pest in the world,” according to the Locust Watch website. As depicted in the Book of Exodus, when the highly mobile swarms of Desert Locust form, “they are ravenous eaters who consume their own weight per day, targeting food crops and forage.” While one locust may not seem a major fresser (eater, Yiddish), the swarms can grow to millions of individuals, “with the capacity to consume the same amount of food in one day as 35,000 people.”

The current widespread breeding in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia represents “an unprecedented threat to food security and livelihoods at the beginning of the upcoming cropping season,” writes the Locust Watch website. It appears that the hardest hit countries will include Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Iran, Pakistan, and Sudan, the last of which will likely be affected later this summer, said Cressman.

KENYA. Widespread swarm breeding continues in northern and central counties where an increasing number of hopper bands and first-generation immature swarms are forming. This may be supplemented by new-generation immature swarms arriving from Somalia. Further concentration is expected in Marsabit and Turkana. Aerial and ground control operations continue.

ETHIOPIA. Breeding continues within a widespread area of Oromiya and SNNPR regions, including the Rift Valley, where early instar hopper bands are forming in some places. Immature swarms are present in the south where cross-border movements are likely from adjacent areas of Somalia and Kenya. Aerial and ground control operations continue.

SOMALIA. Late instar hopper bands, maturing adult groups and at least one mature swarm on the northwest coast where egg-laying continues. Ground control operations underway with biopesticides.

SUDAN. Late instar hopper band, fledglings and immature adult group and swarm on the southern coast of the Red Sea near the Eritrea border. Scattered adults in Tokar Delta, the northeast and in the Nile Valley.

ERITREA. Immature adult groups on the northern coast of the Red Sea near the Sudan border. Hopper groups on the Buri Peninsula.

SAUDI ARABIA. Mature swarm and laying adult groups near the Persian Gulf between Dammam and Qaryat Al Ulya. Scattered adults on the central Red Sea coast.

KUWAIT. Immature swarms in the north and near Kuwait City.

UAE. Immature swarm on the western coast near Qatar.

IRAN. Swarms laying eggs in the southwest (southern Khuzestan, Busherh, southern Fars, western Hormozgan provinces) that will start to hatch later this week and form hopper bands. Local breeding continues in the southeast where hoppers are forming groups and bands in eastern Hormozgan. Control operations are in progress.

PAKISTAN. Mature adult groups laying eggs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Dera Ismail Khan, Lucky Marwat) and Baluchistan (Dalbandin, Kharan, Khuzdar, Washtuk, Turbat) that will hatch during the second half of March and form hopper groups and small bands. New generation immature groups and small swarms are likely to start forming in Baluchistan by the end of March.