Dow falls 700 points amid surging coronavirus cases, quarantine orders

June 24 (UPI) -- The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 700 points on Wednesday amid concerns over rising COVID-19 cases in parts of the country.

The blue chip index slid 710.26 points or 2.72 percent, its worst day since June 11, as Florida saw a record increase in coronavirus cases and states in the Northeast put orders in place requiring visitors from some states to quarantine for 14 days.

Meanwhile, the S&P fell 2.59 percent and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.19 percent, its first decline in nine sessions.

Florida reported more than 5,000 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, a single-day record for the state, while Connecticut, New Jersey and New York announced that visitors from Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Washington, Utah and Texas would face a 14-day quarantine due to high infection rates in those states.

The surge of coronavirus cases and quarantine orders caused airline stocks to fall, as United stock dropped 8.34 percent, while Delta, Southwest and American Airlines each declined more than 7 percent.

Cruise line stocks also plummeted as Norwegian Cruise Line stock fell 12.42 percent and Carnival and Royal Caribbean stocks slid more than 11 percent.

Disney stock fell 3.88 percent as workers petitioned for the company to move back the reopenings of its theme parks scheduled for next month.

Stocks had previously come off of a strong start to the week as the Nasdaq reported its 21st closing record of 2020 on Tuesday.