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The global stock market slid forthe sixth straight day on Thurs-day, as the S&P 500 index plungedto its worst loss in almost nineyears and investors worldwidegrew increasingly fearful that thecoronavirus outbreak could causea recession as it squeezes corpo-rate profits.

The S&P 500, which just lastWednesday reached a recordhigh, slid 4.4 percent, its worst daysince August 2011. The index isdown 12 percent since that peak,entering what is known as a cor-rection — a drop of at least 10 per-cent that signals a more signifi-cant sell-off than a few days of pes-simistic trading.

The widening scope of thehealth crisis threatens to over-whelm global supply chains, espe-cially in China, the world’s second-largest economy after the UnitedStates. In addition, the outbreakcould crush consumer demand, aspeople limit travel or stay homeeven without a government order

to do so.Scott Clemons, the chief invest-

ment strategist for private bank-ing at Brown Brothers Harriman,said the outbreak’s potential to al-ter American consumers’ habitswas at the heart of the sell-off.

“To the degree that consumerschange their behavior — so theystop going out to eat, they don’ttake the vacation, they cancel thebusiness trip — that consumption,that spending, personal consump-tion is 68 percent of G.D.P.,” Mr.Clemons said.

Over the past few days, compa-nies as varied as United Airlines,Mastercard and Pfizer have saidthe outbreak poses a threat totheir 2020 earnings.

And analysts at Goldman Sachspredicted on Thursday that com-panies in the S&P 500 would gen-erate no profit growth this year asa result of the crisis, because of a“severe decline in Chinese eco-nomic activity,” disruption in the

STOCKS TAKE DIVENOT SEEN SINCE 2011

OVER VIRUS CRISISSixth Straight Day of Losses as Pressure

Rises on Global Supply Chains

By MATT PHILLIPS

Source: Refinitiv12

10

8

6

4

2%

0

–

–

–

–

–

–

Wed. Thurs. Fri. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs.

Percentage change sincelast Wednesday’s close

Stockmarket

peak

Correction territory

Thurs. close:–12.0%

from peak

S&P 500

Continued on Page A11

WASHINGTON — Federalhealth employees interacted withAmericans quarantined for possi-ble exposure to the coronaviruswithout proper medical trainingor protective gear, then scatteredinto the general population, ac-cording to a government whistle-blower who lawmakers say facedretaliation for reporting concerns.

The team was “improperly de-ployed” to two military bases inCalifornia to assist the processingof Americans who had been evac-uated from coronavirus hot zonesin China and elsewhere, accordingto a portion of a narrative accountshared with Congress and ob-tained by The New York Timesahead of a formal complaint to theOffice of the Special Counsel, anindependent government agencythat handles federal whistle-blower complaints.

Staff members from the Depart-ment of Health and Human Serv-ices’ Administration for Childrenand Families were sent to TravisAir Force Base and March Air Re-serve Base in late January andearly February and were orderedto enter quarantined areas, in-cluding a hangar where coro-navirus evacuees were being re-ceived, the complaint said. Theywere not provided safety-protocoltraining until five days into theirassignment, said the whistle-blower, who is described as a sen-ior leader at the health agency.

Without proper training orequipment, some of the exposedstaff members moved freelyaround and off the bases, with at

Whistle-BlowerSays U.S. StaffWas Put at RiskThis article is by Emily Cochrane,

Noah Weiland and Margot Sanger-Katz.

Continued on Page A11

Already in deep distress, the pa-tient was rushed last week to ahospital in Northern California,severely ill and unable to breatheon her own.

Doctors at the University of Cal-ifornia, Davis Medical Center,near Sacramento, provided thewoman with critical care but alsoconsidered an unlikely diagnosis:infection with the coronavirus.

Hospital administrators saidthey immediately requested diag-nostic testing from the Centers forDisease Control and Prevention,but the procedure was not carriedout because the case did not qual-ify under strict federal criteria:She had not traveled to China andhad not been in contact with any-one known to be infected.

The announcement on Wednes-day that the woman was indeedinfected left health officials in Cali-fornia searching for people shemay have exposed to the virusand testing the medical workerswho have treated her. The casehas raised difficult questionsabout whom to test and whetherthe nation is prepared to keep thevirus under control.

The California woman’s casemay also offer the first indicationthat the virus has spread beyondAmericans who traveled outsidethe country, or had contact withsomeone who had.

Even before Wednesday’s an-nouncement, frustration had beenmounting among health providersand medical experts that theagency was testing too few Ameri-cans, which may slow prepara-tions for an outbreak and may ob-

Federal CriteriaDelayed TestingOf Sick WomanThis article is by Roni Caryn Ra-

bin, Sheri Fink and Knvul Sheikh.

WASHINGTON — SpeakerNancy Pelosi and Senator ChuckSchumer, the minority leader,hear constant warnings from al-lies about congressional losses inNovember if the party nominatesBernie Sanders for president.Democratic House membersshare their Sanders fears on text-

messaging chains. Bill Clinton, incalls with old friends, vents aboutthe party getting wiped out in thegeneral election.

And officials in the national andstate parties are increasingly anx-ious about splintered primaries onSuper Tuesday and beyond,where the liberal Mr. Sandersedges out moderate candidateswho collectively win more votes.

Dozens of interviews with Dem-ocratic establishment leaders this

week show that they are not justworried about Mr. Sanders’s can-didacy, but also willing to risk in-traparty damage to stop his nomi-nation at the national conventionin July if they get the chance.Since Mr. Sanders’s victory in Ne-vada’s caucuses on Saturday, TheNew York Times has interviewed93 party officials — all of them su-perdelegates, who could have asay on the nominee at the conven-tion — and found overwhelming

opposition to handing the Ver-mont senator the nomination if hearrived with the most delegatesbut fell short of a majority.

Such a situation may result in abrokered convention, a messy po-litical battle the likes of whichDemocrats have not seen since1952, when the nominee was AdlaiStevenson.

“We’re way, way, way past the

Key Democrats Willing to Open Party to Bruises to Stop SandersBy LISA LERER

and REID J. EPSTEIN

Continued on Page A15

ATUL LOKE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Mourning in Delhi, where some wonder if the police did enough to quell the violence. Page A4.India Reels From Religious Attacks

Continued on Page A20

JELDAK, Afghanistan — Theiryoung bodies are as broken as thebomb-pocked 40 miles of highwaythey guard.

Some are missing fingers, oth-ers a leg or an eye. Many carrymultiple scars and the ringingsound of the last explosiontrapped in their heads. Most havenot been home in years — to gohome is to drive into Taliban terri-tory. So their mothers come tothem once in a while, with driedfruit or embroidered tunics.

A brief truce has brought thisbattle-weary unit of the Afghanpolice, holed up in their hilltop out-posts in Zabul Province, an unex-

pected respite from the daily at-tacks they had come to see as in-evitable.

It is the final days before apeace deal between the UnitedStates and the Taliban insurgencyis expected to be signed, and thepartial cease-fire that was set as aprecondition seems to be holding.The police on this remote, south-ern battlefield suddenly have timefor questions they once hardly

imagined asking: Could therereally be peace? What would thatbe like?

Lt. Col. Musa-Kalim Rodwal,the unit’s commander, draws on atleast 15 years of perspective, lossand hurt as he ponders. The lifethey have lived — of assaults androadside bombs when on duty, andtargets on their backs when not —is like being chained by fear, hesaid.

“Freedom is the most importantthing for humans in life,” ColonelRodwal told me as he drove us be-tween outposts. “What we live isnot really life.”

During a seven-day period of vi-olence reduction agreed to by theTaliban and Afghan security

Afghan Police Face a Strange New Reality: PeaceBy MUJIB MASHAL

The members of Lt. Col. Musa-Kalim Rodwal’s police unit are finally able to fetch water without fearing snipers will take them out.KIANA HAYERI FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Battle-Hardened ForcePonders Life Without

Fighting Taliban

Continued on Page A6

ISTANBUL — The TurkishArmy suffered mass casualties inan airstrike in northwest Syrialate Thursday, an attack that coulddramatically change the course ofthe Syrian war as fears grow of adirect conflict between Russia andTurkey, a NATO member.

At least 33 Turkish soldierswere killed and more than 30wounded, said Rahmi Dogan, theTurkish governor of the southernprovince of Hatay, where the Turk-ish casualties were arriving.

Turkish officials said the strikehad been carried out by Syriangovernment forces, but Russianjets have been conducting most ofthe airstrikes in the area in recentweeks. Turkish protesters in Is-tanbul converged on the RussianConsulate there early Friday,chanting “Murderer Russia! Mur-derer Putin!”

Turkish officials have avoidedblaming the Russian governmentfor aggression against their forcesin Syria, hoping to avoid a directconfrontation with Russia’s muchstronger military and to keep aline open for talks with Russia’spresident, Vladimir V. Putin.

Russian officials could not bereached for comment late Thurs-day.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Tur-key’s president, convened anemergency meeting Thursdayevening in Ankara, Turkish media

In Escalation,Strike in Syria

Kills 33 Turks

By CARLOTTA GALL

Continued on Page A5

TRUMP’S CHOICE Russia-Turkeyface-offs in Syria and Libya mayforce a decision. PAGE A5

As automation comes to stores, robotsare given human features so they’reliked, not feared as job killers. PAGE B1

BUSINESS B1-7

The Googly-Eyed Job KillerLucy the Elephant, a 138-year-old road-side attraction on the ocean in MargateCity, N.J., is listed on Airbnb. PAGE A21

NEW YORK A21-23

Getaway Packs Its Own TrunkThere is a beautifully complex languageof materials in an exhibition of DonaldJudd’s work at the Museum of ModernArt. A review. PAGE C11

WEEKEND ARTS C1-24

A Retrospective to Savor

Labor unions asked the Federal TradeCommission to open a wide-rangingstudy of its business practices. PAGE B1

Scrutiny of Amazon Is Sought

Mick Mulvaney, a top Trump aide,acknowledged that immigrants arecritical to economic growth, even if hisboss’s policies don’t. PAGE A18

NATIONAL A13-20

U.S. ‘Running Out of People’

An oil industry tool to prevent harm tothe bears by finding their dens locatesfewer than half, a study says. PAGE A19

Cameras Miss Polar Bears

The singer Billy Idol is starring in thecity’s $1 million push to prevent trucksand buses from idling. PAGE A22

Nice Day for an Ad Campaign

After scandals drove him out of politicsand led him to sell his prized A.C. Mi-lan, Silvio Berlusconi is back in thegame as owner of a third-tier Italiansoccer club. PAGE B8

SPORTSFRIDAY B8-11

Fallen Mogul’s New Pitch

With Houston having been caught inelectronic sign-stealing, Oakland hopesthat it can finally catch the Astros in theAmerican League West despite havinga much lower payroll. PAGE B8

Fair Shot for the Athletics?

Eric Schmidt PAGE A25

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A24-25Britain’s Court of Appeal said the gov-ernment failed to take climate-changecommitments into account. PAGE A4

INTERNATIONAL A4-12

Heathrow Runway Plan Barred

VOL. CLXIX . . . No. 58,617 © 2020 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2020

Late EditionToday, periodic clouds and sunshine,windy, cold, high 41. Tonight, patchyclouds, low 29. Tomorrow, periodicclouds and sunshine, cold, high 37.Weather map appears on Page B12.

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