Virus outbreak could delay foreign workers whom businesses rely on during high season.

PROVINCETOWN — Businesses across the Cape are dealing with the immediate blow dealt by the coronavirus outbreak, but another problem could be looming should the peninsula reopen for business this summer.

The federal Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs has stopped all bureau-funded programs and is strongly recommending any private exchange programs, including J-1 visa programs that many Cape businesses rely on in the summer, also be suspended until mid-May as the world works to contain the pandemic.

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On the Cape the program is largely used as a work and travel visa, with students from around the world chiefly working in the hospitality and restaurant industries. The program is meant to be a cultural exchange, and students sometimes travel at the end of the season.

The H-2B program, a type of visa for foreign nonagricultural workers whom Cape businesses also hire in large numbers, is not being processed by the federal government any longer because of the virus.

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By one business owner’s estimation, Provincetown is an even split of American, J-1 and H-2B workers come summertime, when thousands of people visit the Cape-tip.

At the moment, the suspension is not a major issue; Gov. Charlie Baker has shut down nonessential businesses until May 4, largely cutting off the need for foreign students and workers the Cape must have to operate at full capacity.

But many worry that the visa programs' start date could be pushed out even further, possibly dashing the dreams of foreign workers who were hoping to come to the U.S. for work and travel, and creating a hardship for businesses that depend on the workers in the high season.

“At this point I don’t think we really know what is going to happen,” Patrick Patrick, owner of Marine Specialties in Provincetown, said.

The Commercial Street store is currently closed because of the shutdown, but Patrick normally has H-2B workers in the summer.

“I guess it’s all kind of dead in the water," he said.

Some workers’ visas may already have been processed, but traveling is still largely banned and there are not many jobs to come to, said Radu Luca, executive director of the Provincetown Chamber of Commerce.

A former J-1 student himself, Luca said most of the foreign workers come in early to mid-May, but there is much uncertainty about when businesses may reopen.

If restrictions are loosened, he predicted that tourists would flock to the Cape in force, possibly setting up a rush to get workers in.

Businesses rely on having the workers before summer, so they can hit the ground running once the tourists arrive.

“Can you imagine if we don’t get the H-2B or J-1 (workers) until summer?” Catherine Boyle, director of Mid-Cape J-1 Housing Program, asked. “How are you going to reopen if you don’t have the help you usually do?”

Boyle has been fielding messages from students who are wondering what is going to happen. One Romanian student sold his car and borrowed money so he could afford his J-1 program.

Programs can run between $1,000 and $5,000. If the summer is abbreviated, students would lose money on the exchange trip, Boyle said.

“A lot of them are really nervous,” she said.

Past students often say their summer on the Cape was the best part of their year, but students are also worried about their health and don’t want to catch or help spread COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, according to Boyle.

“They’re wondering, ‘What is it going to be like over there? Is it safe for me?’” she said.

Inna Taylor, a teacher and youth priest, has been holding Instagram Live chats with students from Russia, Czech Republic, Lithuania and other countries so she can keep them informed and answer any questions about the COVID-19 situation in the U.S.

Taylor, along with Boyle, started the Hello Summer J-1 group, which hosts gatherings, bicycle safety classes and helps students acclimate to the U.S.

Most sponsors have put their programs on hold, and some students have taken the news hard.

“I have a student from Jordan who was really upset about it,” Taylor said.

She tried to reassure them and has been preaching a positive message about the situation, hoping things would become better, not bitter.

“They’re just on hold,” she told the student. “You’re still coming.”

Follow Ethan Genter on Twitter: @Ethan GenterCCT.