Stocks tumbled on Wednesday, reaching a new coronavirus crisis low as investors worried about the economic damage from the pandemic.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,338.46 points, or 6.3% to 19,898.92, marking its first close below 20,000 since February 2017. The Dow was down more than 2,300 points at the lows of the session. The S&P 500 dropped 5.2% to 2,398.10 and closed nearly 30% below a record set last month. The Nasdaq Composite slid 4.7% to 6,989.84. Virtually no market was safe from the selling wave, with crude prices having their third-worst decline on record.

Stocks came off their lows in the final minutes of trading after the Senate obtained the votes to pass a coronavirus relief plan to expand paid leave.

Echoing concerns of the about the mounting economic impact of the virus and whether the government is doing enough to combat it, billionaire investor Bill Ackman said the best remedy for the market downturn and the outbreak in the U.S. is for President Donald Trump to shut down the country.

"We need to shut it down now... This is the only answer," Ackman, founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, told CNBC's "Halftime Report" on Wednesday. "America will end as we know it. I'm sorry to say so, unless we take this option."

"Hell is coming," said Ackman. "Capitalism does not work in an 18-month shutdown, capitalism can work in a 30-day shutdown."

Trading was briefly suspended after a "circuit breaker" was tripped up. A circuit breaker halts trading across the U.S. stock exchanges for 15 minutes and is meant to ensure orderly market behavior. Wednesday marked the fourth time in a week that a circuit breaker was triggered.