随着COVID-19的蔓延，餐饮业面临倒闭

随着COVID-19的蔓延，餐饮业面临倒闭

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.

对于像梅尔文·罗德里格这样经历过卡特里娜飓风的人来说，现在是焦虑的时刻。它摧毁了他的家，并关闭了他在新奥尔良法国区著名的加拉托瓦餐厅。

This is far worse, he says.

他说，情况要糟糕得多。

"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.

罗德里格说:“我认为卡特里娜飓风将被证明与现在相比是小菜一碟。”保险公司赔偿了他的损失。这次不会了。

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.

为了遏制冠状病毒，美国各城市和各州迅速关闭了餐馆，这让全国各地的餐馆突然陷入一片混乱。收入突然中断，工人面临大规模裁员，餐馆高管试图应对由此带来的混乱。

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

几乎全国所有的餐馆都同时受到了重创，这使得这场灾难独一无二。

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

“冠状病毒的流行，对我们来说是未知的领域，”国家餐馆协会发言人肖恩·肯尼迪说。

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

所有类型的餐馆都处于不同的崩溃状态。现在，他们中的许多人没有工作，面临着就业市场的突然动荡。

"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.

肯尼迪说:“无论你是一家大型连锁餐厅还是一家位于街角的小餐馆，你都能立即看到影响。”目前还不清楚它何时会结束。

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.

就这样，经济停滞了。罗德里格正试图改变这一现状，他将自己拥有115年历史的白餐桌餐馆改造成一家外卖餐馆，并将原本应该用来制作标志性的克里奥尔特色菜——虾肉酱和鳟鱼阿曼丁酱——的新鲜海鲜全部用完。

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，他在看着自己手中越来越少的现金。还要付房租和水电费。他必须节省一些钱，以便重新开业。为了160名员工的利益，罗德里格感到有一种迫切的义务要继续下去，他不得不解雇其中的大多数员工。

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.

许多餐馆老板正在想办法帮助他们的员工。一些公司试图出售礼品卡，并将收益分给员工。一项名为《家庭第一冠状病毒应对法案》的新联邦法律于上周获得通过，该法案允许小型企业的员工有至多两周的带薪假期。

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.

但餐馆协会的肯尼迪说，这将要求餐馆在大多数餐馆已经很缺钱的时候，提前为休假提供资金。来自联邦政府的补偿，以及任何潜在的救助，可能来得太晚了。大多数餐馆都有足够的现金维持几天，或者几周。

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

肯尼迪说，他们根本就没有必要的资金来支付带薪病假。