Stocks sank on Wednesday as Wall Street kicked off the second quarter on a sour note amid concerns the coronavirus will keep the economy shut down longer than expected.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 973.65 points lower, or 4.4%, at 20,943.51. The S&P 500 slid 4.4% to 2,470.50 along with the Nasdaq Composite, which closed at 7,360.58. The major averages hit their session lows in the final minutes of trading, with the Dow briefly falling more than 1,100 points.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday evening the U.S. should prepare for a "very, very painful two weeks" from the rampant coronavirus. White House officials are projecting between 100,000 and 240,000 virus deaths in the U.S.

"This is going to be a rough two-week period," Trump said at a White House press conference. "When you look at night the kind of death that has been caused by this invisible enemy, it's incredible."

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday he is closing all New York City playgrounds, adding the state's model projects a high death rate through July. He also said cases in New York state now total more than 83,000.

"There's still tremendous uncertainty," said Patrick Kaser, portfolio manager at Brandywine Global. "We can look at history as a guidepost for the market and the economy, but there's not a perfect scenario."

"In situations like this, the best thing for long-term investors is to figure out what they want longer term," he said.

Boeing, American Express and Dow Inc all fell more than 7.5% to lead Dow industrials lower. Real estate investment, utilities, energy and financials led the S&P 500 lower with each of those sectors down at least 5%.