Outbreak: At least eight US states have declared a state of emergency as the number of coronavirus cases in the country has grown past 500. Among them are New York, Florida, and California. The US reports 539 cases in 34 states and 22 Americans have died.

  Thousands of workers from Seattle to Silicon Valley have been told to work from home. Several public school districts have shut down and some universities are having classes online. Even churches are limiting services or prayer meetings. A global health conference in Orlando, Florida, which President Trump was supposed to address, has been cancelled. The Indian Wells tennis tournament has been cancelled and the NBA is considering playing games without fans. 

  As demand falls, oil prices have dropped 20 percent and stocks look like they are going to slide again today.

  The Grand Princess cruise ship, which has been held off the coast of California with 21 confirmed cases, is expected to dock in Oakland today. Its 3,500 passengers and crew will be held in quarantine for two weeks before foreigners are sent home. The State Department has advised Americans not to travel on cruise ships until this crisis passes.

  Outside China, where the pandemic began, Italy is now the country hit second hardest. A quarter of the country — millions of people —- has been put under lockdown. Italy has 7,375 of the world’s 109,400 cases, and more than 366 of at least 3,800 deaths. 

Two Degrees of Separation: As President Trump claims he’s doing an excellent job handling the coronavirus, it turns out he was photographed shaking hands with Matt Schlapp, the chairman of the American Conservative Union, who had been in direct contact with an infected man during the Conservative Political Action Conference last month.

  Texas Sen. Ted Cruise shook hands with that same man and announced that he’s going into a self-imposed quarantine after shaking hands with that same man. There’s a silver lining in every crisis.

Spymaster: Erik Prince, the former head of the gun-toting Blackwater Security, has recruited former American and British spies for secret operations that have included infiltrating Democratic congressional campaigns, labor organizations, and other groups considered hostile to President Trump and his agenda, The NY Times reports.

  Prince is closely linked with James O’Keefe and Project Veritas, the organization that uses quasi-journalistic tactics to discredit perceived liberal enemies. Their latest hit was on David Wright, a veteran ABC News correspondent who was secretly videotaped criticizing his organization, its political coverage, and fealty to the Walt Disney company which owns it.

  Wright was suspended by ABC, which did not question the methods used against their correspondent.

   Both Prince and O’Keefe have links to Trump and his family, although the Times is careful to say there’s no evidence that Trump is involved with their activities. Prince, who has advised the Trump administration, also is the brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who has been a critic of the American federation of teachers, which was infiltrated by Project Veritas. 

  The organization has targeted Planned Parenthood, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Democracy Partners, a group that consults with liberal and progressive electoral causes. O’ Keefe pleaded guilty to a federal misdemeanor in 2010 after entering a government building under false pretenses.

The Campaign Trail: Longtime civil rights campaigner and former presidential candidate Jesse Jackson has endorsed Bernie Sanders for president as the Vermont senator hopes to win black voters in tomorrow’s Michigan Democratic primary. 

  “With the exception of Native Americans, African-Americans are the people who are most behind socially and economically in the United States, and our needs are not moderate,” Jackson said at a rally in Grand Rapids “The Biden campaign has not reached out to me or asked for my support,” he added. “The Sanders campaign has, and they responded to the issues I raised.”

  Sanders so far has gotten somewhat tepid support from black voters. He got creamed in South Carolina because Joe Biden dominated the black vote.

  Former candidates Sen. Cory Booker and Kamala Harris have endorsed Joe Biden.

The Bulletin Board: Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan Markle make their final formal appearances today as members of the royal family. Harry and Meghan will join the Queen and other royals at the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey this afternoon. — North Korea has fired three more missiles into the Sea of Japan. — Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the king’s son and heir, appears to be consolidating power in advance of succeeding his father, ordering the detention of four senior members of the royal family. President Trump likes him.

Punchline: If you want to get elected, you have to appear on “Saturday Night Live” … and it seems you have to make an appearance even if you can’t get elected. 

  Former Presidential candidate Elizabeth warren appeared as herself Saturday night. Answering questions posed by Kate McKinnon posing as conservative Valkyrie Laura Ingraham, Warren said, “You know, I’m doing just fine. My friends and family have been so supportive. They’ve been calling nonstop, asking: ‘Are you OK? What do you need? Were you electable?’ That kind of thing.”

-30-