#i don’t know how much longer my landlord will waive my rent because i’m not well enough to live at my apartment on my own right now

[transcendentalmaggot]

(This is just me screaming about living with a disability in our present hell and being in a constant state of precarity with everyone asking when I’m going to “get better”)

Finally received approval of my temporary disability from January... and only for January. The paperwork was delayed due to a combination of me being incredibly ill and my HR department not sending the paperwork when they told me they did, but I didn’t expect it to take this long. The approval, received on March 26th, also included a request to submit additional paperwork for approval of February’s payment. I had already called and emailed my case worker to confirm they received the February paperwork weeks ago but I guess that will be delayed until my doctor fills out a form that is simply a retread of the same information included on the original form with different wording and a bunch of information on physical labor that is completely irrelevant to my job. Temporary disability through your job is almost always determined on a month-to-month basis but it’s never taken this long for a response when I’ve had to go on it on the past due to my disabilities. I knew both the health and disability insurance policies at my job were significantly worse this year than the last based on the information we received for the New Year because the company is naturally looking to save money by cutting benefits while moving our warehouses to the south to save even more money on labor. The new owners (a holding company looking to maximize the value of this bullshit, useless company until they sell it in two years for a profit) literally sent an email at Christmas letting us know we’d receive our holiday bonuses for this year but as a matter of policy we wouldn’t be receiving them in the future. Of course I’m expected to be grateful I have any insurance coverage at all working a CS job where I’m making minimum wage but somehow I feel less gratitude than I do an overwhelming sense of dread and anxiety for the future. I haven’t been able to get several tests or doctor’s evaluations completed due to the pandemic and financial considerations (my deductible was met in late February, perfect timing) so of course my health status hasn’t changed. The hospital I go to in NYC has cancelled all non-urgent procedures and appointments on a case-by-case basis and despite my concerning blood work re: my kidney function I’m being forced to wait by the insurance company handling my disability claim with no consideration of the current crisis. I understand the need to do this for hospitals but please be cognizant of the shitty position people with chronic health issues are being thrown into during the pandemic. I can make telemed appointments with my doctors but everything is being held up by the need for tests and lab results.

There’s also something grim about the fact that the outstanding balance I owe from this year’s deductible to the hospital is almost the exact amount I received to live on for the month of January in March.

I’m exhausted and sick and completely isolated from my friends and chosen family outside of instant messaging at my dad’s house and I don’t know if my health will ever get better or if I’m going to need major surgery in the near future and if I’m going to be fired and lose my health insurance by the time I find out. My boss emails me every two weeks to ask about my health as if I’d ever give her more information on my status than she already has. My manager keeps texting me prayers at random intervals. I’m purposefully isolating myself from the people I love because I constantly feel like a burden - I hate not being able to be there for them because being this sick feels like a full time job. Apparently their awful treatment of me was because of how “needed” I was. These texts and emails keep mentioning how productive and beloved by the customers I was while I was constantly being criticized for not bringing my numbers up. I was only number 2 or 3 in the reams of useless data my boss pores over as a fucking job and the obvious reaction to that is to make me feel awful knowing about my health issues so I can raise my numbers even higher. I don’t know if I can return to this job without completely sacrificing the last shred of my sanity. Between the pain, the exhaustion, and the panic attacks induced by people berating me with the job title “happiness ambassador” I don’t think I can handle working with these assholes anymore. But then I remember that any job in CS involves this level of mental degradation and at least I had health insurance. Fucking insurance. I’ve lived my entire life under the crushing terror that I would lose my insurance. I’m just tired. I’m so fucking tired. I can’t afford the medical supplies I need to live without it and Medicaid is incredibly awful to ostomy patients in terms of providing enough supplies. But maybe that’s my fear talking, I’ve just helped a lot of people with catheters and other supplies who didn’t receive a sufficient supply through their state’s Medicaid program through support groups for my condition in the past and the problem has only gotten worse with the severe under funding and cuts to the program. I want to believe it isn’t so awful but experience has taught me time and again to expect the worst.

I’m trying to hold onto hope but everything feels too heavy right now. I’m just going to numb myself with video games until I’ve cried myself out. I’m too exhausted for another panic attack today.

[easyfoodnetwork]

Can Restaurants Survive Shutting Down Again?

Restaurants may close again | Ben Gabbe/Getty Images

Closing dining rooms once cost a lot of money, but closing twice could be even worse

At Twisted Soul Cookhouse and Pours in Atlanta, masked servers whisk plates draped in plastic to socially distanced tables separated by plastic screens, all beneath the hum of a ventilation system upgraded with UV filtration. Excess tables and chairs, including all bar seating, have been removed. An employee at the door provides complimentary masks to customers who arrive without them.

Twisted Soul chef and owner Deborah VanTrece has gone above and beyond recommended safety measures, a stark contrast to leadership in Georgia. Gov. Brian Kemp allowed restaurants to return to full indoor capacity on June 16, and the state has since seen surges in COVID-19 cases. VanTrece has provided a safer space at Twisted Soul, but it’s come at a cost: $5,000 to sanitize the building and install filtration systems, over $3,000 on partitions, daily costs for masks and hand sanitizer, and the emotional burden of dealing with combative customers who refuse to wear masks.

Those costs have forced VanTrece to consider closing the dining room and returning entirely to carryout, but sacrificing dine-in business doesn’t seem financially feasible either. The longer she and the team can hold out, the better the restaurant’s chances of surviving in the coming months, no matter how the health crisis unfolds.

“We’re praying we can keep going with the dining room open, but we’re also trying to prepare ourselves for the possibility that that might not be the reality,” VanTrece says. While daily costs of operating a COVID-era restaurant are significant, she describes dining room service as a financial Band-Aid. “It doesn’t cover the whole wound, but we’re not bleeding as quickly.”

VanTrece is just one of many chefs and restaurant owners across the country facing a second closure, either by choice or government mandate, amid rebounding cases of COVID-19. Officials in some areas have rolled back reopening plans and closed dining rooms. Other cities and states could follow if the pandemic continues unchecked.

View this post on Instagram

Here’s a look at some of the precautions we are taking to keep you safe while dining with us! Each table has been carefully placed six feet apart and is enclosed with partitioning screens. We have also installed a UV filtration system in our air conditioning unit that will be continuously cleaning all air that circulates throughout the dining room. We look forward to seeing you soon! ❤️

A post shared by Twisted Soul (@twistedsoulcookhouse) on Jun 17, 2020 at 8:19am PDT

In New York, where Mayor Bill de Blasio nixed plans to allow indoor dining in June, Popina co-owner James O’Brien fears a second closure could be a death knell. After closing the restaurant’s dining room on March 25, he says the team tried focusing on takeout for about a week. But delivery didn’t provide enough business for the pasta-heavy outfit, especially since the restaurant operates delivery through its own website rather than a third-party platform. Like other restaurateurs turned grocers, the Popina team shifted toward offering pantry goods (including a cook-at-home pasta kit) and wine from their closed dining room.

Since the restaurant’s backyard reopened on June 24, 90 percent of business has come from outdoor dining, providing a glimmer of hope that the business can survive. If the restaurant can make enough money during the summer, before shutting down the patio sometime in the fall or winter, O’Brien says he might take a pay cut, reduce staff, and offer takeout through third parties to keep the restaurant going. But if an order to shut down comes sooner, he says Popina might close completely.

“The reality is, if we could bank enough money in the summer, when October and November come around, one of our options is close again until March of next year,” O’Brien says, though he admits that’s an emergency scenario since it would be incredibly difficult for staff laid off in the middle of winter. He considered asking his landlord to defer rent, but ultimately decided against it, since the deferred payments could land on the restaurant during an even worse period later in the year. For now, he’s maximizing profits while the sun is shining.

The situation is even bleaker for bars that drive business through drinks, like Cuban-inspired cocktail bar Palomar in Portland, Oregon. Owner Ricky Gomez began seating guests on the building’s rooftop on June 2, but for him, the economics don’t make sense for takeout. Unlike Oregon’s neighboring states, a state statute prohibits bars from selling to-go cocktails, and the Oregon Liquor Commission can’t override the law with a temporary measure. A solution would have to come from the state legislature in a special session, followed by Gov. Kate Brown’s signature.

“We do only 35 percent food revenue compared to alcohol revenue,” Gomez says. “With third-party vendors taking a large portion, we didn’t think it was financially viable for us to open up for to-go food solely.”

He’s currently relying on a PPP loan, which will see the business through until August. “If we’re shut down after that time, we would have to go back to our landlords to see about having them waive rent. If they did not, we would close for good,” he says. He points out that if he had spent his loan money immediately, the bar would already be closed. Like O’Brien, Gomez fears winter will be especially devastating without further assistance. “You’re going to see a second wave of closures in January and February. There’s a lot right now, but I think the second wave is actually going to be much worse because there isn’t the buffer of the PPP as well.”

Courtesy of Palmoar

Palomar rooftop seating

That fear is already guiding Gomez’s decisions, including about how many staff members to employ. With limited capacity on the rooftop, he could only bring back a fraction of his workers in order to remain profitable and build a financial buffer against closing outdoor seating in the future.

“I basically had to call staff members a second time and tell them we did not have a position for them. It felt like we had to lay them off twice,” he says. “Personally that’s the biggest gut-wrencher: laying people off twice that have done nothing wrong.” That experience could foreshadow what’s to come for many managers and owners if they have to shut dining rooms or outdoor dining.

Across town, the situation looks significantly different for Deepak Kaul, chef-owner at Bhuna. Pre-COVID, much of the Indian restaurant’s business came from downtown office workers during lunch. That business has dried up completely, Kaul says, and the restaurant hasn’t seen much interest since opening an outdoor dining area in late June.

“We’re not seeing any massive change here on our revenue. Maybe it’s too soon to tell, but there’s no ‘Holy smoke, we’re back in the game.’ We’re still down 50 percent if not more,” Kaul says. His customers remain wary about dining out, and he blames a few cavalier people who refuse to wear masks for scaring off would-be diners.

“I’m kind of hoping they do shut us down again, honestly. It’s a waste of my money and my time [to offer outdoor dining],” Kaul says. He would rather focus on delivery, where the restaurant has always had a strong presence.

Takeout is murkier for a restaurant like Riel in Houston, where Gov. Greg Abbott recently scaled back reopening following a virus surge. Following COVID-19 outbreaks at nearby restaurants, Riel recently closed temporarily to test the entire staff. (All the tests came back negative.) Yet even for a team willing to close to ensure customer and staff safety, shuttering the dining room for months isn’t an option as long as other businesses remain open to seat guests.

Ryan LaChaine, executive chef and partner, says Riel saw booming takeout business right after the state shut dining rooms in March. But as more restaurants pivoted to delivery, competition increased and sales dropped. When Gov. Abbott allowed restaurants to reopen at 25 percent indoor capacity, the Riel team held off, waiting until they could seat 50 percent inside. Others leapt to open as soon as they could.

“A lot of restaurants did open at 25 percent and then that hurt the to-go business even more because people could go out,” LaChaine says. “We don’t have the luxury of shutting down and waiting this out. We have rent. We have taxes. I have a staff that depends on a paycheck.”

The recent temporary closure at least proved the Riel team could shut down safely and quickly without too much waste, since the restaurant has operated with tighter inventory since reopening. Other owners also feel better positioned to close should they need to do so. O’Brien admits that when the team was cleaning out the Popina dining room during the first shutdown, he threw away a lot of inventory that could have been sanitized, a mistake he won’t make again.

Courtesy of Popina

Popina take-home pasta kits

Still, shutting down again could be just as frenetic as the first time if the order comes suddenly, as it did in California, or is complicated by conflicting statements, as happened in Miami-Dade County. Owners can monitor news to stay ready, but it’s ultimately impossible to fully prepare.

“We’re trying to be proactive, but it’s tough when there’s not a lot of leadership and a lot of guidance,” LaChaine says. “You want to know how to cook something? I can tell you that. You want to know what to do in a pandemic? I really have no idea.”

That unpredictability is causing a lot of anxiety for restaurant owners, even those like Mashelle Sykes, who foresaw the possibility of closing down again after reopening for indoor dining. Sykes runs Fusion Flare Kitchen and Cocktails in Detroit, where rising numbers of COVID-19 cases make it tough to plan for the future.

“People are a little afraid now because the numbers have gone back up,” she says. “They are confused. A lot of them are choosing not to eat in because of the risks.” Businesses may lose even more customers to confusion as cities and states rapidly announce new changes to public health policy.

That foreboding atmosphere only adds pressure to make the most of indoor and outdoor dining while they’re still available. As O’Brien puts it, “With all this uncertainty, how do we make the most money right now in the most responsible way?”

Rather than wait for the situation to change further, Kaul is considering getting ahead of the devastation. He doubts many downtown Portland offices will ever return, with employees working remotely for years to come, so he may drop lunch service altogether and stick to takeout in the evenings. “If you run lean, you survive. If you can’t run lean, you’re done,” he says. Gomez also foresees long-term problems for restaurant business. While the PPP program provides a short-term fix, he’s hoping government officials can get together on long-term tax breaks and other financial aid, as well as loosening regulations like those on to-go alcohol that prevent the industry from evolving.

As restaurants stare down a winter season that could foster another wave of COVID-19 cases, which may force even the most unwilling states to close dining rooms, most owners and chefs focus on the day-to-day. They need to squeeze the summer season for all the revenue they can.

“Right now, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel if I can keep the dining room open,” VanTrece says. “With each day, with each month we’re still here, we consider ourselves blessed we’ve done the right thing.”

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/32J85Bd https://ift.tt/3hqW07T

Restaurants may close again | Ben Gabbe/Getty Images

Closing dining rooms once cost a lot of money, but closing twice could be even worse

At Twisted Soul Cookhouse and Pours in Atlanta, masked servers whisk plates draped in plastic to socially distanced tables separated by plastic screens, all beneath the hum of a ventilation system upgraded with UV filtration. Excess tables and chairs, including all bar seating, have been removed. An employee at the door provides complimentary masks to customers who arrive without them.

Twisted Soul chef and owner Deborah VanTrece has gone above and beyond recommended safety measures, a stark contrast to leadership in Georgia. Gov. Brian Kemp allowed restaurants to return to full indoor capacity on June 16, and the state has since seen surges in COVID-19 cases. VanTrece has provided a safer space at Twisted Soul, but it’s come at a cost: $5,000 to sanitize the building and install filtration systems, over $3,000 on partitions, daily costs for masks and hand sanitizer, and the emotional burden of dealing with combative customers who refuse to wear masks.

Those costs have forced VanTrece to consider closing the dining room and returning entirely to carryout, but sacrificing dine-in business doesn’t seem financially feasible either. The longer she and the team can hold out, the better the restaurant’s chances of surviving in the coming months, no matter how the health crisis unfolds.

“We’re praying we can keep going with the dining room open, but we’re also trying to prepare ourselves for the possibility that that might not be the reality,” VanTrece says. While daily costs of operating a COVID-era restaurant are significant, she describes dining room service as a financial Band-Aid. “It doesn’t cover the whole wound, but we’re not bleeding as quickly.”

VanTrece is just one of many chefs and restaurant owners across the country facing a second closure, either by choice or government mandate, amid rebounding cases of COVID-19. Officials in some areas have rolled back reopening plans and closed dining rooms. Other cities and states could follow if the pandemic continues unchecked.

View this post on Instagram

Here’s a look at some of the precautions we are taking to keep you safe while dining with us! Each table has been carefully placed six feet apart and is enclosed with partitioning screens. We have also installed a UV filtration system in our air conditioning unit that will be continuously cleaning all air that circulates throughout the dining room. We look forward to seeing you soon! ❤️

A post shared by Twisted Soul (@twistedsoulcookhouse) on Jun 17, 2020 at 8:19am PDT

In New York, where Mayor Bill de Blasio nixed plans to allow indoor dining in June, Popina co-owner James O’Brien fears a second closure could be a death knell. After closing the restaurant’s dining room on March 25, he says the team tried focusing on takeout for about a week. But delivery didn’t provide enough business for the pasta-heavy outfit, especially since the restaurant operates delivery through its own website rather than a third-party platform. Like other restaurateurs turned grocers, the Popina team shifted toward offering pantry goods (including a cook-at-home pasta kit) and wine from their closed dining room.

Since the restaurant’s backyard reopened on June 24, 90 percent of business has come from outdoor dining, providing a glimmer of hope that the business can survive. If the restaurant can make enough money during the summer, before shutting down the patio sometime in the fall or winter, O’Brien says he might take a pay cut, reduce staff, and offer takeout through third parties to keep the restaurant going. But if an order to shut down comes sooner, he says Popina might close completely.

“The reality is, if we could bank enough money in the summer, when October and November come around, one of our options is close again until March of next year,” O’Brien says, though he admits that’s an emergency scenario since it would be incredibly difficult for staff laid off in the middle of winter. He considered asking his landlord to defer rent, but ultimately decided against it, since the deferred payments could land on the restaurant during an even worse period later in the year. For now, he’s maximizing profits while the sun is shining.

The situation is even bleaker for bars that drive business through drinks, like Cuban-inspired cocktail bar Palomar in Portland, Oregon. Owner Ricky Gomez began seating guests on the building’s rooftop on June 2, but for him, the economics don’t make sense for takeout. Unlike Oregon’s neighboring states, a state statute prohibits bars from selling to-go cocktails, and the Oregon Liquor Commission can’t override the law with a temporary measure. A solution would have to come from the state legislature in a special session, followed by Gov. Kate Brown’s signature.

“We do only 35 percent food revenue compared to alcohol revenue,” Gomez says. “With third-party vendors taking a large portion, we didn’t think it was financially viable for us to open up for to-go food solely.”

He’s currently relying on a PPP loan, which will see the business through until August. “If we’re shut down after that time, we would have to go back to our landlords to see about having them waive rent. If they did not, we would close for good,” he says. He points out that if he had spent his loan money immediately, the bar would already be closed. Like O’Brien, Gomez fears winter will be especially devastating without further assistance. “You’re going to see a second wave of closures in January and February. There’s a lot right now, but I think the second wave is actually going to be much worse because there isn’t the buffer of the PPP as well.”

Courtesy of Palmoar

Palomar rooftop seating

That fear is already guiding Gomez’s decisions, including about how many staff members to employ. With limited capacity on the rooftop, he could only bring back a fraction of his workers in order to remain profitable and build a financial buffer against closing outdoor seating in the future.

“I basically had to call staff members a second time and tell them we did not have a position for them. It felt like we had to lay them off twice,” he says. “Personally that’s the biggest gut-wrencher: laying people off twice that have done nothing wrong.” That experience could foreshadow what’s to come for many managers and owners if they have to shut dining rooms or outdoor dining.

Across town, the situation looks significantly different for Deepak Kaul, chef-owner at Bhuna. Pre-COVID, much of the Indian restaurant’s business came from downtown office workers during lunch. That business has dried up completely, Kaul says, and the restaurant hasn’t seen much interest since opening an outdoor dining area in late June.

“We’re not seeing any massive change here on our revenue. Maybe it’s too soon to tell, but there’s no ‘Holy smoke, we’re back in the game.’ We’re still down 50 percent if not more,” Kaul says. His customers remain wary about dining out, and he blames a few cavalier people who refuse to wear masks for scaring off would-be diners.

“I’m kind of hoping they do shut us down again, honestly. It’s a waste of my money and my time [to offer outdoor dining],” Kaul says. He would rather focus on delivery, where the restaurant has always had a strong presence.

Takeout is murkier for a restaurant like Riel in Houston, where Gov. Greg Abbott recently scaled back reopening following a virus surge. Following COVID-19 outbreaks at nearby restaurants, Riel recently closed temporarily to test the entire staff. (All the tests came back negative.) Yet even for a team willing to close to ensure customer and staff safety, shuttering the dining room for months isn’t an option as long as other businesses remain open to seat guests.

Ryan LaChaine, executive chef and partner, says Riel saw booming takeout business right after the state shut dining rooms in March. But as more restaurants pivoted to delivery, competition increased and sales dropped. When Gov. Abbott allowed restaurants to reopen at 25 percent indoor capacity, the Riel team held off, waiting until they could seat 50 percent inside. Others leapt to open as soon as they could.

“A lot of restaurants did open at 25 percent and then that hurt the to-go business even more because people could go out,” LaChaine says. “We don’t have the luxury of shutting down and waiting this out. We have rent. We have taxes. I have a staff that depends on a paycheck.”

The recent temporary closure at least proved the Riel team could shut down safely and quickly without too much waste, since the restaurant has operated with tighter inventory since reopening. Other owners also feel better positioned to close should they need to do so. O’Brien admits that when the team was cleaning out the Popina dining room during the first shutdown, he threw away a lot of inventory that could have been sanitized, a mistake he won’t make again.

Courtesy of Popina

Popina take-home pasta kits

Still, shutting down again could be just as frenetic as the first time if the order comes suddenly, as it did in California, or is complicated by conflicting statements, as happened in Miami-Dade County. Owners can monitor news to stay ready, but it’s ultimately impossible to fully prepare.

“We’re trying to be proactive, but it’s tough when there’s not a lot of leadership and a lot of guidance,” LaChaine says. “You want to know how to cook something? I can tell you that. You want to know what to do in a pandemic? I really have no idea.”

That unpredictability is causing a lot of anxiety for restaurant owners, even those like Mashelle Sykes, who foresaw the possibility of closing down again after reopening for indoor dining. Sykes runs Fusion Flare Kitchen and Cocktails in Detroit, where rising numbers of COVID-19 cases make it tough to plan for the future.

“People are a little afraid now because the numbers have gone back up,” she says. “They are confused. A lot of them are choosing not to eat in because of the risks.” Businesses may lose even more customers to confusion as cities and states rapidly announce new changes to public health policy.

That foreboding atmosphere only adds pressure to make the most of indoor and outdoor dining while they’re still available. As O’Brien puts it, “With all this uncertainty, how do we make the most money right now in the most responsible way?”

Rather than wait for the situation to change further, Kaul is considering getting ahead of the devastation. He doubts many downtown Portland offices will ever return, with employees working remotely for years to come, so he may drop lunch service altogether and stick to takeout in the evenings. “If you run lean, you survive. If you can’t run lean, you’re done,” he says. Gomez also foresees long-term problems for restaurant business. While the PPP program provides a short-term fix, he’s hoping government officials can get together on long-term tax breaks and other financial aid, as well as loosening regulations like those on to-go alcohol that prevent the industry from evolving.

As restaurants stare down a winter season that could foster another wave of COVID-19 cases, which may force even the most unwilling states to close dining rooms, most owners and chefs focus on the day-to-day. They need to squeeze the summer season for all the revenue they can.

“Right now, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel if I can keep the dining room open,” VanTrece says. “With each day, with each month we’re still here, we consider ourselves blessed we’ve done the right thing.”

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/32J85Bd via Blogger https://ift.tt/2OIJ94G

[mastcomm]

As Virus Tightens Grip on China, the Art World Feels the Squeeze

A single Chinese billionaire, an investor and former taxi driver named Liu Yiqian, has spent at least $200 million on art in recent years, including $170 million for a Modigliani nude in 2015.

With China as the second-largest market for the global movie industry, approval or rejection by the government in Beijing can make or break a movie’s bottom line.

Orchestras from around the world plan tours of China years in advance, seeing them as a way to sell tickets, raise their profile and cultivate China’s growing wealthy class as donors.

But now, as China struggles to get the coronavirus epidemic under control, the country is essentially closed for business to the global arts economy, exposing the sector to deep financial uncertainty. Movie releases have been canceled in China and symphony tours suspended because of quarantines and fears of contagion. A major art fair in Hong Kong was called off, and important spring art auctions half a world away in New York have been postponed because well-heeled Chinese buyers may find it difficult to travel to them.

“It’s just not realistic to plan to offer things that are objects we know people want to see in person during a time when they can’t get here,” said Lark Mason, the founder of iGavel, one of six auction houses that have postponed many of their sales. “It does mean we have to scramble a bit because, OK, we don’t have this amount of revenue coming in. What are we going to do to fill the gap?”

The virus has infected more than 60,000 people and killed more than 1,400 in China. As tens of millions of people are sealed off in cities there, new questions are emerging about how the virus, named SARS-CoV-2, is transmitted. Even art dealers who expect business to suffer because of closed borders and mandatory quarantines say they understand that stopping the contagion comes first.

Still, there will be a financial impact. China was the third-biggest art market in the world in 2018, according to last year’s Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report, accounting for 19 percent of the $67 billion spent on art that year. (The United States, at 44 percent, and United Kingdom, at 21 percent, had the top two spots.)

Last week, Art Basel Hong Kong, an annual art fair scheduled for mid-March, was canceled, depriving dealers and artists of a major opportunity to show works to customers based in China and beyond. The fair attracts droves of visitors who descend on the region for art shows, cocktail gatherings and yacht parties in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Hanoi and Tokyo before, during and after the fair. Some of these have been postponed or canceled as well.

In Hong Kong, the cancellations come after months of political protests that have convulsed the city and left much of the territory on shaky footing.

Updated Feb. 10, 2020

What is a Coronavirus? It is a novel virus named for the crown-like spikes that protrude from its surface. The coronavirus can infect both animals and people, and can cause a range of respiratory illnesses from the common cold to more dangerous conditions like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS.

How contagious is the virus? According to preliminary research, it seems moderately infectious, similar to SARS, and is possibly transmitted through the air. Scientists have estimated that each infected person could spread it to somewhere between 1.5 and 3.5 people without effective containment measures.

How worried should I be? While the virus is a serious public health concern, the risk to most people outside China remains very low, and seasonal flu is a more immediate threat.

Who is working to contain the virus? World Health Organization officials have praised China’s aggressive response to the virus by closing transportation, schools and markets. This week, a team of experts from the W.H.O. arrived in Beijing to offer assistance.

What if I’m traveling? The United States and Australia are temporarily denying entry to noncitizens who recently traveled to China and several airlines have canceled flights.

How do I keep myself and others safe? Washing your hands frequently is the most important thing you can do, along with staying at home when you’re sick.

Ben Brown, a gallery owner with locations in London and Hong Kong, said that his shop has made a big profit every year at Art Basel Hong Kong, and this year, that bump will disappear. But the damage will go beyond immediate sales.

“It’s the center of the artistic universe for a week, and it leads to other things during the year,” he said. “Imagine if you had to cancel the Oscars. The film world would carry on, and films would carry on either making money or losing money, but it’s a major blow.”

Galleries that had planned to exhibit at Art Basel Hong Kong were offered a refund of 75 percent of their booth fees, which run to $125,000 for the largest spaces. Besides forfeited fees and lost sales, galleries are bleeding money in other ways. Cliff Vernon, director of the contemporary division of Gander & White, which ships fine art, said that there were two shipping containers currently at sea that had been on their way to Art Basel carrying pieces from five dealers. Now, the galleries will have to pay to ship it back, at a cost of about $15,000 for the return trip.

China is also critical for the movie business, a $9 billion annual market second only to North America, according to Paul Dergarabedian, a senior analyst at Comscore, a media measurement company. But with most movie theaters in the country closed, he said, that business is almost entirely on hold. Releases of “Jojo Rabbit” and “Dolittle” — a box-office bomb in the United States that desperately needs foreign sales — are among those postponed in China so far.

“There’s no question there are going to have to be footnotes as far as the box offices goes this year,” Mr. Dergarabedian said. “The longer this goes on, the bigger an issue it becomes.”

With China’s emergence as the fastest-growing market for classical music in recent years, the ripple effects of the virus crisis were quickly felt across that field as well.

Several American ensembles, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra, based in Washington, canceled planned tours of China. The Juilliard School, which is preparing to open a branch in Tianjin this fall, announced that it was suspending all in-person admissions-related activities in Asia until at least March. And the ambitious monthlong Hong Kong Arts Festival, which would have assembled leading orchestras, opera companies, soloists and dance companies from all over the world, was canceled.

The economic impact is still being gauged. American orchestra tours are expensive, complicated undertakings that are planned years in advance; fees they earn from foreign hosts generally cover only part of what it costs to ship roughly a hundred musicians and their instruments thousands of miles. But orchestral tours of China have proved especially attractive to sponsors interested in cultivating relationships there — and whose financial support makes such tours possible.

“You try to break even with sponsorship dollars,” said Michael M. Kaiser, the chairman of the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the University of Maryland.

The Boston Symphony said that the tour it canceled was expected to cost approximately $2.1 million, including artist fees and expenses; security; lodging; airfare; and transporting the trunks and instruments of orchestra members. The administration has been hoping to speak with vendors about waiving or reducing some fees, but with the crisis it has been difficult to get through to some of them.

Even institutions that are far less dependent on Chinese patrons, like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Broadway theaters in New York City, say they are watching the situation carefully. Chinese tour groups have been suspended, and if the virus spreads widely, other travelers themselves may decide to stay home. In Paris, the Louvre said it had not yet seen a drop in visits, but according to the museum’s most recent figures, 800,000 of its 10 million visitors in 2018 came from China.

Art galleries are not completely reliant on foot traffic and fairs; thanks to the internet and her phone, Emerald Mou, a partner at the Hong Kong gallery Mine Project, said that half the current show at her gallery has now sold through email, WhatsApp or WeChat. (Ms. Mou also said she was recently able to negotiate with her landlord for a five percent reduction on her rent for two months.) Mathieu Borysevicz, a director of the BANK gallery in Shanghai said that he had just sold a painting on WeChat to a collector who was at home, bored, in Beijing.

But Mr. Borysevicz also said that a collector in Thailand had canceled a purchase not long ago, saying it was because of the virus that he could not buy the piece.

Many high-end auction bids are delivered by phone, as was the record-setting Modigliani purchase Mr. Liu made at Christie’s New York. But buyers often like to see what they’re bidding on beforehand. And right now, Chinese buyers can’t easily visit the marble Sui dynasty Buddha head (estimated to sell for $500,000 to $700,000) or the 17th-century incense stand ($800,000 to $1,200,000) that Christie’s in New York had planned to offer this spring. The auctions held every March at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and elsewhere in New York City have been postponed until June.

The virus comes at a particularly difficult time because any art that originated in China has been subject to a 15 percent tariff for months (they will be lowered to 7.5 percent on Friday) as a result of President Trump’s trade standoff with Beijing, which means it is now harder not only for dealers to sell art, but also to buy it.

“For my exhibition next month, I would say more than half of it was acquired outside the United States, so to bring that in and add 15 percent, that’s what we used to call the profit margin,” said James Lally, founder of J.J. Lally & Co. in Manhattan, a gallery that specializes in Chinese art.

“It’s two unfortunate things on top of each other that affect opposite ends of the market,” he added. “It’s not a good time.”

Reporting was contributed by Michael Cooper and Michael Paulson from New York; Jacob Dreyer from Bangkok; Constant Meheut from Paris; and Scott Reyburn from London‏.

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Why It Pays to “Discover” Online Banking

For the longest time, banking to me seemed like mostly a practice in making the best of a bad situation. After all, how many people actively discuss what they enjoy about their bank? Instead, it’s mostly complaints about rising fees and buggy apps. Because of this and since I didn’t have any big issues with Wells Fargo and wasn’t paying any maintenance fees for my decades-old account, I assumed I couldn’t really ask for more.

That was until I turned my sights to internet banking. Suddenly I learned that I could be actually earning on my savings while still avoiding fees. Since then, I’ve actually opened a few online bank accounts — but my first and most-used of these accounts comes from Discover Bank. So let’s dive into what advantages online institutions offer as well as what I like about Discover Bank specifically.

What Online-Only Banks Have to Offer

The way I’ve utilized my checking account over the past few years isn’t exactly normal or smart. Aside from receiving my direct deposit and being used to pay rent, it basically acts a slush fund for my wife and me that just sits there until we need it. That’s not a terrible idea but, then again, it doesn’t earn us anything either. That’s why I decided it would be better to open a real savings account that would at least get us some interest. Brick and Mortar Rates

Way back when the notion that I should be setting up a real savings account occurred to me, my first thought was to just open a new savings account with Wells Fargo or perhaps a local bank in my area. However I was shocked to learn that unless you have some serious bucks — we’re talking five figures here — you would only get a .01% interest rate on your account. Really?

I knew savings account rates were low but I didn’t know they were that low. Luckily internet banks offer much better rates.

Internet Bank Rates

  At the time that I was first looking at online banking options, savings account interest rates were already 100 times better than most big institutions, with APYs north of 1%. As great as that sounds, these days those figures have more than doubled. In the case of my Discover Bank savings account, my current APY is 2.10% while other popular options such as Synchrony are up to 2.25%.

Why I Went with Discover Considering that the goal was to earn as much interest as possible, you may be wondering why I didn’t go with Synchrony, which tends to offer slightly higher rates than Discover. Truth be told, my main reason was that I already had a Discover It credit card and have been pretty impressed with my experience. I figured that having my credit card and other bank accounts under one roof made things easier and I seem to have been right about that. In fact, since the time that I first joined Discover Bank, they’ve upgraded their system so that you can access both credit and banking products with a single login where you previously needed separate usernames and passwords.

The Benefits and Drawbacks of Internet Banks

First a big plus: unlike many too-big-to-fail banks, Discover Bank and many of their ilk don’t charge a maintenance fee or mandate a minimum daily balance. Moreover various online institutions have different policies regarding overdraft fees, with some waiving such penalties in all situations and others like Discover reimbursing your first fine each year. Plus, just like regular bank accounts, online bank accounts are FDIC insured (or at least they should be — make sure to do your due diligence on an institution before joining).

As for the downsides, there’s no question that some will be concerned about the lack of a physical branch to go to. Personally, I rely so much on banking apps that I hardly remember the last time I visited a brick and mortar location. That said, the inability to deposit cash or a check in an ATM does mean that it can take longer to get your money into your account. In the case of cash, you may even have to rely on your “big bank” account to deposit the cash before transferring to your online account. Such delays mean you’ll need to think ahead if you’re actively using these accounts to pay bills — but hopefully you’ll be able to work out the kinks with some practice.

My Experience With Discover Bank

It’s now been a couple of years since I joined Discover Bank and, overall, it’s been a great experience. As I mentioned, during this time, my APY has continued to rise, so that’s a definite plus. However I’ve also noticed a few changes to my accounts over time that have been both good and, well, less than great. Let’s take a closer look at not only my Discover Bank savings account but also my checking account.

Cash Back Checking Exists

Funny enough, when I first joined Discover, I didn’t just open a savings account — I actually opened a checking account as well. That’s because Discover Bank offers cash back checking, which I thought would be a nice addition to my banking line-up. At the time the deal was that users would earn $.10 back for each debit transaction, check written, and more. I managed to maximize these dime bonuses by only using my debit card for transactions that were under a $1 and then transferring my acquired earnings to my Discover It card’s cash back stockpile.

Unfortunately Discover has since changed the structure of their cash back checking program, now offering 1% back on all debit card purchases. Admittedly this doesn’t do much for me as my Discover It card offers the same and other credit cards I have do even better. That said, this is probably the better program overall and could be perfect for those who either cannot qualify for a rewards credit cards or wouldn’t trust themselves with one.

Despite the structural change, as time has gone on, my Discover Bank has practically become my primary checking account. In fact it’s where I write my rent checks from. To that point, a few months ago, I also got to see how Discover’s “First Fee Forgiveness” program works as a mixup with my landlord resulted in an overdraft fee (that’s when I learned that postdated checks aren’t a thing). Although a $30 fee did briefly post to my account, a $30 credit was quickly issued since this was my first — and hopefully last — infraction. This was such a relief and made what turned out to be a frustrating situation at least a little bit better. Plus I can only imagine how much such a mistake would have cost me had it happened at a regular bank without such generous policies.

No Branch? No Problem

To be honest, the initial reason I decided to sign up for the checking account was because Discover debit cards offer access to (apparently) more than 60,000 ATMs without a fee. Since there’s not a Wells Fargo within a few hundred miles of my home I thought it would be wise for me to have a backup plan. Sure this whole plan only saves me a couple of dollars per withdrawal but everything adds up.

Like many banks, Discover’s app also allows you to deposit checks into your savings or checking account just by taking a photo of it. You can also sign up for various bill pay options, although I have yet to explore those despite the length of time I’ve had my accounts (so I really can’t speak to how that works.) Lastly, you can easily transfer money between your external and internal accounts using the app or website, so there’s really is no need for a branch.

Other Advantages 

A lot of what I liked about the Discover It card’s app also applies to the Discover Bank account. First the bank’s widget looks great in the iOS Today Screen and gives me at-a-glance updates on my balances. Additionally one of the upgrades that came to Discover’s debit cards when they added chips is that they are now supported in Apple Pay. As I mentioned, Discover Bank has also integrated with Discover credit cards, allowing you to see all of your accounts in the same place.

A Few Initial Issues

While I’m pretty satisfied with my account experience overall, there were a couple of problems I had when setting up my accounts forever ago. First, when signing up on the website, I was shown my account numbers and then presented with the option to register my accounts for online access. There was just one problem: clicking the button took me away from the page with my account numbers and there was no way back to them.

I assumed this wouldn’t be a big deal as surely they must have sent me an email confirmation, right? Sadly, no — aside from that initial confirmation page I had no other way of knowing if my accounts were actually even opened until several hours later when I was notified that my funding transfers had gone through. This should have been relieving but, since none of these emails contained my full account numbers, I was now sending money to accounts I couldn’t access. To be fair, I could have called their helpline to retrieve the info I needed, but I instead opted just to wait until my paperwork arrived in the mail.

Obviously this wasn’t exactly a deal breaker but I could see others being much more frustrated by such a situation than I was. I can also see some being upset that, in order to transfer between an external account and your Discover Bank account on the app, you must first add the external account information on the website. Again, not a huge deal but it is a little less elegant than you might want.

With all that said, this was several years ago now and was prior to a round of upgrades on Discover’s part. Therefore I can only hope that whatever issues plagued me so many months ago have now been resolved. Considering I haven’t run into any issues since, I’m thinking they just might be.

Final Thoughts on Discover Bank

There’s no doubt about it: bringing my savings to internet banking accounts was among the smartest money moves I’ve made. No longer am I letting my cash just sit in a checking account doing nothing. Instead I’m earning interest, which has also encouraged to save even more.

Beyond the increase in APY, on the whole, I’d say Discover Bank has improved even since my initially positive review. The merging of credit and banking accounts, sleeker debit card, and Apple Pay support have all been welcomed additions — even if my little $.10 trick no longer works. Furthermore, having found myself fallible and accidentally bouncing a check, it was great to see the bank’s First Fee Forgiveness save the day.

For all of those reasons, even though I now have other online bank accounts including Aspiration, my Discover Bank accounts are still my most used. With a current savings APY of 2.10%, I’ve found this to be the perfect place to house my emergency fund and other extra cash. So, if you’re looking for a better bank account to supplement what you currently have or want to get away from the big banks, I’d definitely recommend looking into what Discover Bank has to offer.

The post Why It Pays to “Discover” Online Banking appeared first on Dyer News.

[easyfoodnetwork]

Restaurants may close again | Ben Gabbe/Getty Images Closing dining rooms once cost a lot of money, but closing twice could be even worse At Twisted Soul Cookhouse and Pours in Atlanta, masked servers whisk plates draped in plastic to socially distanced tables separated by plastic screens, all beneath the hum of a ventilation system upgraded with UV filtration. Excess tables and chairs, including all bar seating, have been removed. An employee at the door provides complimentary masks to customers who arrive without them. Twisted Soul chef and owner Deborah VanTrece has gone above and beyond recommended safety measures, a stark contrast to leadership in Georgia. Gov. Brian Kemp allowed restaurants to return to full indoor capacity on June 16, and the state has since seen surges in COVID-19 cases. VanTrece has provided a safer space at Twisted Soul, but it’s come at a cost: $5,000 to sanitize the building and install filtration systems, over $3,000 on partitions, daily costs for masks and hand sanitizer, and the emotional burden of dealing with combative customers who refuse to wear masks. Those costs have forced VanTrece to consider closing the dining room and returning entirely to carryout, but sacrificing dine-in business doesn’t seem financially feasible either. The longer she and the team can hold out, the better the restaurant’s chances of surviving in the coming months, no matter how the health crisis unfolds. “We’re praying we can keep going with the dining room open, but we’re also trying to prepare ourselves for the possibility that that might not be the reality,” VanTrece says. While daily costs of operating a COVID-era restaurant are significant, she describes dining room service as a financial Band-Aid. “It doesn’t cover the whole wound, but we’re not bleeding as quickly.” VanTrece is just one of many chefs and restaurant owners across the country facing a second closure, either by choice or government mandate, amid rebounding cases of COVID-19. Officials in some areas have rolled back reopening plans and closed dining rooms. Other cities and states could follow if the pandemic continues unchecked. View this post on Instagram Here’s a look at some of the precautions we are taking to keep you safe while dining with us! Each table has been carefully placed six feet apart and is enclosed with partitioning screens. We have also installed a UV filtration system in our air conditioning unit that will be continuously cleaning all air that circulates throughout the dining room. We look forward to seeing you soon! ❤️ A post shared by Twisted Soul (@twistedsoulcookhouse) on Jun 17, 2020 at 8:19am PDT In New York, where Mayor Bill de Blasio nixed plans to allow indoor dining in June, Popina co-owner James O’Brien fears a second closure could be a death knell. After closing the restaurant’s dining room on March 25, he says the team tried focusing on takeout for about a week. But delivery didn’t provide enough business for the pasta-heavy outfit, especially since the restaurant operates delivery through its own website rather than a third-party platform. Like other restaurateurs turned grocers, the Popina team shifted toward offering pantry goods (including a cook-at-home pasta kit) and wine from their closed dining room. Since the restaurant’s backyard reopened on June 24, 90 percent of business has come from outdoor dining, providing a glimmer of hope that the business can survive. If the restaurant can make enough money during the summer, before shutting down the patio sometime in the fall or winter, O’Brien says he might take a pay cut, reduce staff, and offer takeout through third parties to keep the restaurant going. But if an order to shut down comes sooner, he says Popina might close completely. “The reality is, if we could bank enough money in the summer, when October and November come around, one of our options is close again until March of next year,” O’Brien says, though he admits that’s an emergency scenario since it would be incredibly difficult for staff laid off in the middle of winter. He considered asking his landlord to defer rent, but ultimately decided against it, since the deferred payments could land on the restaurant during an even worse period later in the year. For now, he’s maximizing profits while the sun is shining. The situation is even bleaker for bars that drive business through drinks, like Cuban-inspired cocktail bar Palomar in Portland, Oregon. Owner Ricky Gomez began seating guests on the building’s rooftop on June 2, but for him, the economics don’t make sense for takeout. Unlike Oregon’s neighboring states, a state statute prohibits bars from selling to-go cocktails, and the Oregon Liquor Commission can’t override the law with a temporary measure. A solution would have to come from the state legislature in a special session, followed by Gov. Kate Brown’s signature. “We do only 35 percent food revenue compared to alcohol revenue,” Gomez says. “With third-party vendors taking a large portion, we didn’t think it was financially viable for us to open up for to-go food solely.” He’s currently relying on a PPP loan, which will see the business through until August. “If we’re shut down after that time, we would have to go back to our landlords to see about having them waive rent. If they did not, we would close for good,” he says. He points out that if he had spent his loan money immediately, the bar would already be closed. Like O’Brien, Gomez fears winter will be especially devastating without further assistance. “You’re going to see a second wave of closures in January and February. There’s a lot right now, but I think the second wave is actually going to be much worse because there isn’t the buffer of the PPP as well.” Courtesy of Palmoar Palomar rooftop seating That fear is already guiding Gomez’s decisions, including about how many staff members to employ. With limited capacity on the rooftop, he could only bring back a fraction of his workers in order to remain profitable and build a financial buffer against closing outdoor seating in the future. “I basically had to call staff members a second time and tell them we did not have a position for them. It felt like we had to lay them off twice,” he says. “Personally that’s the biggest gut-wrencher: laying people off twice that have done nothing wrong.” That experience could foreshadow what’s to come for many managers and owners if they have to shut dining rooms or outdoor dining. Across town, the situation looks significantly different for Deepak Kaul, chef-owner at Bhuna. Pre-COVID, much of the Indian restaurant’s business came from downtown office workers during lunch. That business has dried up completely, Kaul says, and the restaurant hasn’t seen much interest since opening an outdoor dining area in late June. “We’re not seeing any massive change here on our revenue. Maybe it’s too soon to tell, but there’s no ‘Holy smoke, we’re back in the game.’ We’re still down 50 percent if not more,” Kaul says. His customers remain wary about dining out, and he blames a few cavalier people who refuse to wear masks for scaring off would-be diners. “I’m kind of hoping they do shut us down again, honestly. It’s a waste of my money and my time [to offer outdoor dining],” Kaul says. He would rather focus on delivery, where the restaurant has always had a strong presence. Takeout is murkier for a restaurant like Riel in Houston, where Gov. Greg Abbott recently scaled back reopening following a virus surge. Following COVID-19 outbreaks at nearby restaurants, Riel recently closed temporarily to test the entire staff. (All the tests came back negative.) Yet even for a team willing to close to ensure customer and staff safety, shuttering the dining room for months isn’t an option as long as other businesses remain open to seat guests. Ryan LaChaine, executive chef and partner, says Riel saw booming takeout business right after the state shut dining rooms in March. But as more restaurants pivoted to delivery, competition increased and sales dropped. When Gov. Abbott allowed restaurants to reopen at 25 percent indoor capacity, the Riel team held off, waiting until they could seat 50 percent inside. Others leapt to open as soon as they could. “A lot of restaurants did open at 25 percent and then that hurt the to-go business even more because people could go out,” LaChaine says. “We don’t have the luxury of shutting down and waiting this out. We have rent. We have taxes. I have a staff that depends on a paycheck.” The recent temporary closure at least proved the Riel team could shut down safely and quickly without too much waste, since the restaurant has operated with tighter inventory since reopening. Other owners also feel better positioned to close should they need to do so. O’Brien admits that when the team was cleaning out the Popina dining room during the first shutdown, he threw away a lot of inventory that could have been sanitized, a mistake he won’t make again. Courtesy of Popina Popina take-home pasta kits Still, shutting down again could be just as frenetic as the first time if the order comes suddenly, as it did in California, or is complicated by conflicting statements, as happened in Miami-Dade County. Owners can monitor news to stay ready, but it’s ultimately impossible to fully prepare. “We’re trying to be proactive, but it’s tough when there’s not a lot of leadership and a lot of guidance,” LaChaine says. “You want to know how to cook something? I can tell you that. You want to know what to do in a pandemic? I really have no idea.” That unpredictability is causing a lot of anxiety for restaurant owners, even those like Mashelle Sykes, who foresaw the possibility of closing down again after reopening for indoor dining. Sykes runs Fusion Flare Kitchen and Cocktails in Detroit, where rising numbers of COVID-19 cases make it tough to plan for the future. “People are a little afraid now because the numbers have gone back up,” she says. “They are confused. A lot of them are choosing not to eat in because of the risks.” Businesses may lose even more customers to confusion as cities and states rapidly announce new changes to public health policy. That foreboding atmosphere only adds pressure to make the most of indoor and outdoor dining while they’re still available. As O’Brien puts it, “With all this uncertainty, how do we make the most money right now in the most responsible way?” Rather than wait for the situation to change further, Kaul is considering getting ahead of the devastation. He doubts many downtown Portland offices will ever return, with employees working remotely for years to come, so he may drop lunch service altogether and stick to takeout in the evenings. “If you run lean, you survive. If you can’t run lean, you’re done,” he says. Gomez also foresees long-term problems for restaurant business. While the PPP program provides a short-term fix, he’s hoping government officials can get together on long-term tax breaks and other financial aid, as well as loosening regulations like those on to-go alcohol that prevent the industry from evolving. As restaurants stare down a winter season that could foster another wave of COVID-19 cases, which may force even the most unwilling states to close dining rooms, most owners and chefs focus on the day-to-day. They need to squeeze the summer season for all the revenue they can. “Right now, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel if I can keep the dining room open,” VanTrece says. “With each day, with each month we’re still here, we consider ourselves blessed we’ve done the right thing.” from Eater - All https://ift.tt/32J85Bd

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As Virus Tightens Grip on China, the Art World Feels the Squeeze

A single Chinese billionaire, an investor and former taxi driver named Liu Yiqian, has spent at least $200 million on art in recent years, including $170 million for a Modigliani nude in 2015.

With China as the second-largest market for the global movie industry, approval or rejection by the government in Beijing can make or break a movie’s bottom line.

Orchestras from around the world plan tours of China years in advance, seeing them as a way to sell tickets, raise their profile and cultivate China’s growing wealthy class as donors.

But now, as China struggles to get the coronavirus epidemic under control, the country is essentially closed for business to the global arts economy, exposing the sector to deep financial uncertainty. Movie releases have been canceled in China and symphony tours suspended because of quarantines and fears of contagion. A major art fair in Hong Kong was called off, and important spring art auctions half a world away in New York have been postponed because well-heeled Chinese buyers may find it difficult to travel to them.

“It’s just not realistic to plan to offer things that are objects we know people want to see in person during a time when they can’t get here,” said Lark Mason, the founder of iGavel, one of six auction houses that have postponed many of their sales. “It does mean we have to scramble a bit because, OK, we don’t have this amount of revenue coming in. What are we going to do to fill the gap?”

The virus has infected more than 48,000 people and killed more than 1,350 in China. As tens of millions of people are sealed off in cities there, new questions are emerging about how the virus, named SARS-CoV-2, is transmitted. Even art dealers who expect business to suffer because of closed borders and mandatory quarantines say they understand that stopping the contagion comes first.

Still, there will be a financial impact. China was the third-biggest art market in the world in 2018, according to last year’s Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report, accounting for 19 percent of the $67 billion spent on art that year. (The United States, at 44 percent, and United Kingdom, at 21 percent, had the top two spots.)

Last week, Art Basel Hong Kong, an annual art fair scheduled for mid-March, was canceled, depriving dealers and artists of a major opportunity to show works to customers based in China and beyond. The fair attracts droves of visitors who descend on the region for art shows, cocktail gatherings and yacht parties in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Hanoi and Tokyo before, during and after the fair. Some of these have been postponed or canceled as well.

In Hong Kong, the cancellations come after months of political protests that have convulsed the city and left much of the territory on shaky footing.

Updated Feb. 10, 2020

What is a Coronavirus? It is a novel virus named for the crown-like spikes that protrude from its surface. The coronavirus can infect both animals and people, and can cause a range of respiratory illnesses from the common cold to more dangerous conditions like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS.

How contagious is the virus? According to preliminary research, it seems moderately infectious, similar to SARS, and is possibly transmitted through the air. Scientists have estimated that each infected person could spread it to somewhere between 1.5 and 3.5 people without effective containment measures.

How worried should I be? While the virus is a serious public health concern, the risk to most people outside China remains very low, and seasonal flu is a more immediate threat.

Who is working to contain the virus? World Health Organization officials have praised China’s aggressive response to the virus by closing transportation, schools and markets. This week, a team of experts from the W.H.O. arrived in Beijing to offer assistance.

What if I’m traveling? The United States and Australia are temporarily denying entry to noncitizens who recently traveled to China and several airlines have canceled flights.

How do I keep myself and others safe? Washing your hands frequently is the most important thing you can do, along with staying at home when you’re sick.

Ben Brown, a gallery owner with locations in London and Hong Kong, said that his shop has made a big profit every year at Art Basel Hong Kong, and this year, that bump will disappear. But the damage will go beyond immediate sales.

“It’s the center of the artistic universe for a week, and it leads to other things during the year,” he said. “Imagine if you had to cancel the Oscars. The film world would carry on, and films would carry on either making money or losing money, but it’s a major blow.”

Galleries that had planned to exhibit at Art Basel Hong Kong were offered a refund of 75 percent of their booth fees, which run to $125,000 for the largest spaces. Besides forfeited fees and lost sales, galleries are bleeding money in other ways. Cliff Vernon, director of the contemporary division of Gander & White, which ships fine art, said that there were two shipping containers currently at sea that had been on their way to Art Basel carrying pieces from five dealers. Now, the galleries will have to pay to ship it back, at a cost of about $15,000 for the return trip.

China is also critical for the movie business, a $9 billion annual market second only to North America, according to Paul Dergarabedian, a senior analyst at Comscore, a media measurement company. But with most movie theaters in the country closed, he said, that business is almost entirely on hold. Releases of “Jojo Rabbit” and “Dolittle” — a box-office bomb in the United States that desperately needs foreign sales — are among those postponed in China so far.

“There’s no question there are going to have to be footnotes as far as the box offices goes this year,” Mr. Dergarabedian said. “The longer this goes on, the bigger an issue it becomes.”

With China’s emergence as the fastest-growing market for classical music in recent years, the ripple effects of the virus crisis were quickly felt across that field as well.

Several American ensembles, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra, based in Washington, canceled planned tours of China. The Juilliard School, which is preparing to open a branch in Tianjin this fall, announced that it was suspending all in-person admissions-related activities in Asia until at least March. And the ambitious monthlong Hong Kong Arts Festival, which would have assembled leading orchestras, opera companies, soloists and dance companies from all over the world, was canceled.

The economic impact is still being gauged. American orchestra tours are expensive, complicated undertakings that are planned years in advance; fees they earn from foreign hosts generally cover only part of what it costs to ship roughly a hundred musicians and their instruments thousands of miles. But orchestral tours of China have proved especially attractive to sponsors interested in cultivating relationships there — and whose financial support makes such tours possible.

“You try to break even with sponsorship dollars,” said Michael M. Kaiser, the chairman of the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the University of Maryland.

The Boston Symphony said that the tour it canceled was expected to cost approximately $2.1 million, including artist fees and expenses; security; lodging; airfare; and transporting the trunks and instruments of orchestra members. The administration has been hoping to speak with vendors about waiving or reducing some fees, but with the crisis it has been difficult to get through to some of them.

Even institutions that are far less dependent on Chinese patrons, like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Broadway theaters in New York City, say they are watching the situation carefully. Chinese tour groups have been suspended, and if the virus spreads widely, other travelers themselves may decide to stay home. In Paris, the Louvre said it had not yet seen a drop in visits, but according to the museum’s most recent figures, 800,000 of its 10 million visitors in 2018 came from China.

Art galleries are not completely reliant on foot traffic and fairs; thanks to the internet and her phone, Emerald Mou, a partner at the Hong Kong gallery Mine Project, said that half the current show at her gallery has now sold through email, WhatsApp or WeChat. (Ms. Mou also said she was recently able to negotiate with her landlord for a five percent reduction on her rent for two months.) Mathieu Borysevicz, a director of the BANK gallery in Shanghai said that he had just sold a painting on WeChat to a collector who was at home, bored, in Beijing.

But Mr. Borysevicz also said that a Thai collector had canceled a purchase not long ago, saying it was because of the virus that he could not buy the piece.

Many high-end auction bids are delivered by phone, as was the record-setting Modigliani purchase Mr. Liu made at Christie’s New York. But buyers often like to see what they’re bidding on beforehand. And right now, Chinese buyers can’t easily visit the marble Sui dynasty Buddha head (estimated to sell for $500,000 to $700,000) or the 17th-century incense stand ($800,000 to $1,200,000) that Christie’s in New York had planned to offer this spring. The auctions held every March at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and elsewhere in New York City have been postponed until June.

The virus comes at a particularly difficult time because any art that originated in China has been subject to a 15 percent tariff for months as a result of President Trump’s trade standoff with Beijing, which means it is now harder not only for dealers to sell art, but also to buy it.

“For my exhibition next month, I would say more than half of it was acquired outside the United States, so to bring that in and add 15 percent, that’s what we used to call the profit margin,” said James Lally, founder of J.J. Lally & Co. in Manhattan, a gallery that specializes in Chinese art.

“It’s two unfortunate things on top of each other that affect opposite ends of the market,” he added. “It’s not a good time.”

Reporting was contributed by Michael Cooper and Michael Paulson from New York; Jacob Dreyer from Bangkok; Constant Meheut from Paris; and Scott Reyburn from London‏.

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