More than 1.5 billion people, a fifth of the world's population, are being asked or ordered to stay home as new virus infections soar.

The hunt for ventilators and other medical supplies is consuming Europe and the U.S., where political paralysis stalled efforts for quick aid from Congress, sending U.S. stocks down.

New York City is quickly becoming a hot spot for the new coronavirus, and the mayor says hospitals are 10 days away from running out of basic supplies.

Medical supplies and hospital space are in short supply elsewhere as well.

British health workers pleaded for more gear, saying they felt like “cannon fodder.”

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