隨著COVID-19的蔓延，餐飲業(yè)面臨倒閉

隨著COVID-19的蔓延，餐飲業(yè)面臨倒閉

These are anxious times for people like Melvin Rodrigue, who lived through Hurricane Katrina. It destroyed his home and shut down his famed Galatoire's restaurant in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

對于像梅爾文·羅德里格這樣經(jīng)歷過卡特里娜颶風(fēng)的人來說，現(xiàn)在是焦慮的時刻。它摧毀了他的家，并關(guān)閉了他在新奧爾良法國區(qū)著名的加拉托瓦餐廳。

This is far worse, he says.

他說，情況要糟糕得多。

"I think Katrina is going to prove to be a cakewalk compared to this," Rodrigue says. Insurance paid for his losses then. This time, it won't.

羅德里格說:“我認(rèn)為卡特里娜颶風(fēng)將被證明與現(xiàn)在相比是小菜一碟。”保險公司賠償了他的損失。這次不會了。

Rapid shutdowns in cities and states to stem the coronavirus have thrown restaurants across the country into sudden and complete disarray. Revenue broken off abruptly, workers faced mass layoffs and restaurant executives tried to manage the resulting chaos.

為了遏制冠狀病毒，美國各城市和各州迅速關(guān)閉了餐館，這讓全國各地的餐館突然陷入一片混亂。收入突然中斷，工人面臨大規(guī)模裁員，餐館高管試圖應(yīng)對由此帶來的混亂。

Just about every restaurant nationwide has been hit hard at once, making this disaster unique.

幾乎全國所有的餐館都同時受到了重創(chuàng)，這使得這場災(zāi)難獨一無二。

"The coronavirus epidemic, it's unchartered territory for us," says Sean Kennedy, a spokesman for the National Restaurant Association.

“冠狀病毒的流行，對我們來說是未知的領(lǐng)域，”國家餐館協(xié)會發(fā)言人肖恩·肯尼迪說。

Restaurants of all types are in varying states of collapse. Now, many of them are without work and face a suddenly shaky job market.

所有類型的餐館都處于不同的崩潰狀態(tài)。現(xiàn)在，他們中的許多人沒有工作，面臨著就業(yè)市場的突然動蕩。

"It doesn't matter if you're a big chain or a small corner diner, you're seeing the impact immediately," Kennedy says. And it's far from clear when it will end.

肯尼迪說:“無論你是一家大型連鎖餐廳還是一家位于街角的小餐館，你都能立即看到影響。”目前還不清楚它何時會結(jié)束。

Just like that, the economy seized up. Rodrigue is trying to adapt by converting his 115-year-old white-table restaurant into a take-out joint and using up fresh seafood that was supposed to go into iconic Creole specialties like shrimp remoulade and trout amandine.

就這樣，經(jīng)濟(jì)停滯了。羅德里格正試圖改變這一現(xiàn)狀，他將自己擁有115年歷史的白餐桌餐館改造成一家外賣餐館，并將原本應(yīng)該用來制作標(biāo)志性的克里奧爾特色菜——蝦肉醬和鱒魚阿曼丁醬——的新鮮海鮮全部用完。

But mostly, he's watching his dwindling supply of cash. There's rent to pay and utilities. And he must conserve some money in order to reopen again. Rodrigue feels an urgent obligation to carry on, for the sake of his 160 workers, most of whom he had to lay off.

但最重要的是，他在看著自己手中越來越少的現(xiàn)金。還要付房租和水電費。他必須節(jié)省一些錢，以便重新開業(yè)。為了160名員工的利益，羅德里格感到有一種迫切的義務(wù)要繼續(xù)下去，他不得不解雇其中的大多數(shù)員工。

Many restaurant owners are searching for ways to help their staff. Some are trying to sell gift cards and giving proceeds to employees. A new federal law, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, passed last week, granting workers at smaller businesses up to two weeks paid leave.

許多餐館老板正在想辦法幫助他們的員工。一些公司試圖出售禮品卡，并將收益分給員工。一項名為《家庭第一冠狀病毒應(yīng)對法案》的新聯(lián)邦法律于上周獲得通過，該法案允許小型企業(yè)的員工有至多兩周的帶薪假期。

But the Restaurant Association's Kennedy says that would require restaurants to fund the leave up front at a time when most are already too cash-strapped. Reimbursement from the federal government — as well as any potential bailouts — might arrive too late. Most restaurants have enough cash to last a couple days, or maybe a couple weeks.

但餐館協(xié)會的肯尼迪說，這將要求餐館在大多數(shù)餐館已經(jīng)很缺錢的時候，提前為休假提供資金。來自聯(lián)邦政府的補償，以及任何潛在的救助，可能來得太晚了。大多數(shù)餐館都有足夠的現(xiàn)金維持幾天，或者幾周。

"They simply aren't going to have the financial wherewithal to fund that paid sick leave mandate, Kennedy says.

肯尼迪說，他們根本就沒有必要的資金來支付帶薪病假。