European Council President Charles Michel participates in a videoconference call with EU leaders at the European Council building in Brussels, Tuesday, March 10. Stephanie Lecocq, Pool Photo via AP

Europe reacts to Trump's travel ban

European Union leaders said Thursday they disapprove of President Donald Trump’s decision to ban travel from Europe to the US amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement, the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission, said that the outbreak is a “global crisis, not limited to any continent and it requires cooperation rather than unilateral action.”

“The European Union disapproves of the fact that the US decision to impose a travel ban was taken unilaterally and without consultation,” the statement from Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen read.

The 30-day suspension, which begins Friday at midnight, marks a sharp escalation of measures taken to insulate Americans from the coronavirus outbreak.

Trump said he didn’t consult European leaders before announcing US travel restrictions on 26 European countries because it would have taken too long.

“We get along very well with European leaders, but we had to make a decision and I didn’t want to take time and, you know, it takes a long time make the individual calls and we are calling and we had spoken to some of them prior to (the announcement),” he said.

The move could cost the US travel industry billions of dollars, according to the US Travel Association.

"Temporarily shutting off travel from Europe is going to exacerbate the already-heavy impact of coronavirus on the travel industry and the 15.7 million Americans whose jobs depend on travel,” said US Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow in a statement today.

The sports and entertainment worlds react

Major sports leagues including the NBA, Italy's Serie A and US Major League Soccer are suspending or postponing their seasons. College basketball's March Madness tournament was also canceled. Major League Baseball announced that the start of the season will be delayed by at least two weeks and it has canceled the remaining spring training schedule.

Disney Parks are closing their doors too.

New York City is taking swift action. Mayor Bill De Blasio said Madison Square Garden and the Barclays Center, two major venues in the city, could be closed for months. Broadway is suspending all shows too.

In the entertainment world, two of the US' biggest late-night talk shows -- "The Tonight Show" and "Late Night with Seth Meyers" are suspending production until March 30. The Tribeca Film Festival was also postponed.

Markets continue to dive

Wall Street is now officially in a bear market. US stocks on Thursday recorded their worst day since the 1987 crash, on rising fears about the coronavirus pandemic.

The S&P 500 dropped more than 20% from its February 19 peak and was down 9.5% for the day -- its worst day since October 19, 1987, known as “Black Monday.”

The index dropped 7% in the first minutes of trading, which triggered a circuit breaker and led the New York Stock Exchange to suspend trading for 15 minutes.

The Dow finished 2,352 points, or nearly 10%, lower in its biggest one-day percentage drop since “Black Monday.” The index is now at a level not seen since summer 2017.

The Nasdaq Composite closed down 9.4%. It is now also in a bear market.