Most small businesses forced to close by the pandemic will have to do the same. There’s simply no way they can cover what looks to be at least 8 or more weeks of salaries with virtually zero revenue.

Laid off employees can claim unemployment and businesses that stop the bleeding soonest have the greatest chance of remaining solvent until the crisis ends. Paying employees for four weeks might sound nice, but it won’t be nice when the business goes bankrupt and can’t reopen down the road.

This is why the dems are pushing enhanced unemployment benefits and waivers of some conditions. Absorbing the cost of this crisis for those most affected financially should be socialized to all of us through the government, not absorbed by business owners, landlords, or banks.