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Two thirds of US restaurant workers laid off over COVID crisis: Survey

Monday, 20 April 2020 5:39 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 20 April 2020 6:00 PM ]

An empty Chipotle restaurant is seen in the financial district in lower Manhattan during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City, New York, US, April 3, 2020. (Reuters photo)

Two thirds of US restaurant workers, or 8 million people, have been laid off or furloughed and 4 in 10 restaurants are closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report.

US restaurants are on track to lose $50 billion in April, with losses mounting to an estimated $240 billion by the end of 2020, according to the National Restaurant Association survey released on Monday.

As the coronavirus crisis ravages the industry, at least 60 percent of restaurant operators say existing federal relief programs will not help them prevent more layoffs, the survey found.

Over 90 percent of Americans have been under stay-at-home orders to contain the virus, forcing companies, shops and restaurants to close their doors, throwing some 22 million people out of work.
There have been growing demonstrations to demand an end to stay-at-home measures that have pummeled the US economy. The isolation and unemployment caused by a long shutdown will drive up rates of domestic abuse, depression and suicide.

American empire on the edge of going off the cliff

The United States is on the way to become a completely failed nation state and the American empire of seems to be on the edge of going off the cliff, says Mark Dankof.

The United States, with the world’s third-largest population, has now suffered the greatest number of reported fatalities from the coronavirus, ahead of Italy and Spain.

COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, has killed more than 1,800 Americans almost every day since April 7, turning into the leading cause of death in the US.

By comparison, heart disease typically kills 1,774 Americans a day, and cancer kills 1,641.

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