Wilted flowers, empty cafes: China's small businesses bear coronavirus costs

What is worrying Rao Yong more than the daily news updates of a virus outbreak gripping China is that he may soon have to shut his online handicraft store and tell the 1,400 craftswomen he employs he is no longer able to sell their work. Rao, from eastern China’s Zhejiang province, is among millions of small business owners feeling the ripple effects of the epidemic which has killed 490 people in China and infected over 20,000. Businesses face widespread disruption as local governments order companies to extend their Lunar New Year holidays for at least another week and curtail transport links, while would-be customers stay home for fear of contagion.