Apr 6, 2021 Severe Impact on Belizean Business Due to Covid-19 The numbers are in and as expected, most Belizean businesses have managed to weather the Covid1-9 storm, but a few have gone under. Today the Statistical Institute of Belize released data from the Business Establishments Survey which examined two thousand five hundred registered businesses, mostly sole proprietors, for the periods March to November 2020. Eighty-six percent were able to remain open, but some closed temporarily, due to a drop in demand for their products and services, cancellation of contracts, or fear by customers of coming to their physical premises. Of those that shuttered permanently, most were in the Corozal District. Countrywide, however, there were considerable layoffs, mostly of part time workers. Eighteen percent of companies let staff go and twenty percent reduced working hours. Seven percent reduced salaries. Wholesale and retail as well as hospitality and food services reported up to ninety-four percent declines in revenue compared to the same period the previous year. Among the survival tactics were changing the way they interacted with customers, including using social media and online ordering. While working from home became commonplace internationally, this was not embraced by Belizean businesses; less than two percent did this. Again, the survey only collected data up to November of 2020. At that time many of those surveyed indicated they did not know how long they could keep operating under covid-19 restrictions, so these figures may not be reflective of the current situation and may be better, or worse, than the survey results for last year.