NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Stocks fell again on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down nearly 900 points following more bad news about the coronavirus.
This was the second day in a row that stocks have dropped amid concerns over the spread of the virus.
The drop comes only hours after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the public needs to begin preparing for a pandemic outbreak of the coronavirus in the U.S.
"We are asking the American public to work with us to prepare for the expectation that this could be bad," CDC officials told reporters.
Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said that schools and businesses should start looking for ways to allow students and employees to work from home.
"Now is the time for businesses, hospitals, communities, schools and everyday people to begin preparing," Messonnier said. She also said that large gatherings may need to be postponed or canceled.
"Disruption to everyday life may be severe," she said.
Last week, Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the outbreak is approaching the pandemic threshold, CBS News reported.
“Technically speaking, the (World Health Organization) wouldn’t be calling this a global pandemic. But it certainly is on the verge of that happening reasonably soon unless containment is more successful than it is right now,” Fauci said.