“I have people who rely on me to be able to pay their rent,” she said. “Not only do I have no money coming in, I’m kind of hemorrhaging cash in terms of refunds for everyone.”

Now that the outbreak is hitting the consumers, the damage is all but certain to spread. JPMorgan Chase said Thursday that it expected the U.S. economy to contract in the first two quarters of the year, which would meet a common definition of a recession. A survey of prominent academic economists, also released Thursday, found that a majority thought the outbreak was likely to cause a “major recession.”

For caterers, function halls and others whose business depends on large groups of people gathering together, business dried up nearly overnight.

“It started Tuesday,” said Elizabeth Perez, the co-owner and marketing director for the Pavilion Grille in Boca Raton, Fla. “They were canceling Thursday night with a dinner for 47 people, and that was the first one.” Then an Ultimate Chefs’ dinner for 120 scheduled for March 22 was postponed. A bar mitzvah for 150 on May 30 canceled. “That’s at least $10,000,” Ms. Perez said. She normally employs 20 people at an event to serve food and bus tables. Since they are hourly workers, if there is no event, there is no pay.