By MATT SEDENSKY and JON GAMBRELL

BANGKOK (AP) — Saudi Arabia cut travel to Islam’s holiest sites, South Korea toughened penalties for those breaking quarantines and airports across Latin America looked for signs of sick passengers Thursday as the new virus troubled a mushrooming swath of the globe.

With the illness pushing its way into a sixth continent and the number of sick and dead rising, the crisis gave way to political and diplomatic rows, concern that bordered on panic in some quarters, and a sense that no part of the world was immune to the disease’s spread.

“Viruses don’t know borders and they don’t stop at them,” said Roberto Speranza, the health minister in Italy, where northern towns were on army-guarded lockdowns and supermarket shelves were bare.

As growing parts of Europe and the Middle East saw infections and a first case was found in South America, air routes were halted and border control toughened. But for an illness transmitted so easily, with its tentacles reaching into so many parts of the world, leaders puzzled over how to keep the virus from proliferating seemed willing to try anything to keep their people — and economies — safe.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for schools across the country to close for weeks, a decision that impacted 12.8 million students.

“The most important thing is to prevent infections,” said Norinobu Sawada, vice principal of Koizumi primary school, “so there aren’t many other options.”

In South Korea, the hardest-hit country outside China, four Busan markets known for colorful silks and a dizzying array of other wares were shuttered while the country’s military sent hundreds of its doctors and soldiers to aid in treatment and quarantines.

In Iran, the front line of Mideast infections, officials loosened rules barring the import of many foreign-made items to allow in sanitizers, face masks and other necessities, and removed overhead handles on Tehran’s subways to eliminate another source of germs. Peru put specialists on round-the-clock shifts at its biggest airport, Argentina took the temperature of some new arrivals and El Salvador added bans for travelers from Italy and South Korea.

The holy city of Mecca, which able-bodied Muslims are called to visit at least once in their lives, and the Prophet Muhammad’s mosque in Medina were cut off to potentially millions of pilgrims, with Saudi Arabia making the extraordinary decision to stop the spread of the virus.

With the monarchy offering no firm date for the lifting of the restrictions, it posed the possibility of affecting those planning to make their hajj, a ritual beginning at the end of July this year.

“We ask God Almighty to spare all humanity from all harm,” the country said in announcing the decision

Disease has been a constant concern surrounding the hajj, with cholera outbreaks in the 19th century killing tens of thousands making the trip. More recently, another coronavirus that caused Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS, prompted increased public health measures, but no outbreak resulted.

COVID-19’s westward creep — including a case in California in the United States that does not appear linked to overseas travel — had some countries warning their people to obey measures intended to keep a single case from blossoming into a cluster that could paralyze a community.

A man originally from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the center of the global outbreak, who contracted the virus was charged alongside his wife in Singapore for allegedly lying about their whereabouts as officials tried to stem further infections. In Colombia, which has yet to report any cases, officials reminded residents they could be jailed for up to eight years if they violate containment measures. And in South Korea, the National Assembly passed a law strengthening the punishment for those violating self-isolation, more than tripling the fine and adding the possibility of a year in prison.

“It came later than it should have,” said Lee Hae-shik, spokesman for the ruling Democratic Party, calling for further non-partisan cooperation to address the outbreak.

Countries’ efforts to contain the virus opened up diplomatic scuffles. South Korea fought prohibitions keeping its citizens out of 40 countries, calling them excessive and unnecessary. China warned Russia to stop discriminatory measures against its people, including monitoring on public transit. Iran used the crisis to rail against the U.S., which it accused of “a conspiracy” that was sowing fear.

The global count of those sickened by the virus hovered around 82,000, with 433 new cases reported Thursday in China and another 505 in South Korea, where the military called off joint drills planned with American troops. Iran’s caseload surged by more than 100 cases.

Even the furthest reaches of the globe were touched by the epidemic, with a woman testing positive in Tromsoe, the fjord-dotted Norwegian city with panoramas of snow-capped mountains. Health officials said the woman had traveled to China.

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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Contributing to this report were Tong-hyung Kim and Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea; Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark; and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo.

By ALEX VEIGA

AP NEWS – U.S. stocks shed the modest gains they had made in early trading and veered mostly lower in Wednesday afternoon, deepening the market’s losses for the week.

Worry about economic fallout from the virus outbreak that originated in China fueled a sharp sell-off this week that wiped out the market’s gains for the year.

The virus continues to spread and threatens to hurt industrial production, consumer spending, and travel. More cases are being reported in Europe and the Middle East. Health officials in the U.S. have been warning Americans to prepare for the virus.

Energy companies led the selling Wednesday as oil prices declined. Comarex Energy lost 4.9%. Cruise operators including Royal Caribbean and Carnival continued to fall sharply, deeping a rout that began a month ago. Both stocks have lost more than 30% over the past month.

Companies that rely on consumer spending and industrial stocks also fell. Those losses outweighed gains in technology and health care stocks.

The tech sector was among the worst hit by sell-offs this week as many of the companies rely on global sales and supply chains that could be stifled by the spreading outbreak. Microsoft rose 0.8% and Adobe rose 0.6%.

Drugmaker Pfizer rose 2.7% was among the gainers in the health care sector.

Bond prices continued to rise, pushing yields lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 1.31% from 1.33% late Tuesday. The yield on the 3-month Treasury bill edged up to 1.51%.

TJX, the parent of retailer TJ Maxx, surged 6.3% after beating Wall Street’s fourth-quarter profit forecasts and raising its dividend.

VIRUS UPDATE: The virus outbreak has now infected more than 81,000 people globally and continues spreading. Brazil has confirmed the first case in Latin America. Germany, France and Spain were among the European nations with growing caseloads. New cases are also being reported in several Middle Eastern nations.

President Donald Trump will hold a news conference later Wednesday, along with representatives from the Centers for Disease Control, to discuss the virus.

KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 fell 0.2% as of 2 p.m. Eastern time. Following its two-day drop, the index is down 7.9% from the record high it reached last Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 146 points, or 0.5%, to 26,934. The Nasdaq edged up 0.1%. The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks fell 1.1%.

European markets were mostly higher and Asian markets fell.

MOUSE EXIT: Disney fell 4.2% following Bob Iger’s surprise announcement that he will immediately step down as CEO of the giant entertainment company. Iger steered the company’s absorption of big moneymakers, including Star Wars, Pixar, Marvel and Fox’s entertainment businesses. He also oversaw the launch of the Disney Plus streaming video service.

LINGERING MALADY: Cruise operators and some other companies that depend on travelers continued falling as virus fears persist. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings fell 6.7% and Expedia lost 5.7%.

BUSTED BUILDER: Toll Brothers slid 13.6% after the homebuilder reported disappointing fiscal first-quarter profit. The poor results initially weighed on some of its rivals, but most of them recovered by midday. A government report Wednesday showed that sales of new homes jumped 7.9% in January to the fastest pace in more than 12 years.

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AP Business Writer Damian J. Troise contributed.