While many restaurants have closed completely in response to the coronavirus, others have taken to just doing takeout such as the Blue Moon Cafe in Saranac Lake. (Enterprise photo — Griffin Kelly)

Tyler Charette had been waiting tables at the Ray Brook Brewery for the past nine months when he got a message from his manager, saying the business would close indefinitely.

“For a lot of us, that was a really big ‘Oh s***’ moment,” he said in a phone interview Saturday. “Most of the people who work at the brewery, that’s their primary gig. I was freaking out about it myself because, being a waiter, you don’t know what you’re going to walk out with. For me, that’s how I was making rent. It was literally off tips.”

As the coronavirus spreads through the U.S., New York has become one of the hardest-hit states in the country, with more than 15,000 confirmed cases. In response to the quick spread, Gov. Andrew Cuomo mandated all restaurants and bars switch to take-out and delivery only. With no need for table services, many people are left without jobs.

For just over a decade, the U.S. has seen steadily decreasing unemployment rates since the 2008 recession. As of December 2019, the rate was 3.5%. That number is expected to rise once again as the country deals with the effects of the coronavirus. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 281,000 new people applied for unemployment insurance during the week of March 14.

Here in the Adirondacks, where tourism is king, many people either work in service full-time or use it as a side hustle.

On top his service job, Charette works in the community houses at the Sunmount Developmental Center in Tupper Lake. There, he helps the residents with all sorts of daily tasks: cooking, eating, bathing, going to the bathroom. That job is also part-time work for most people, he said.

“Because of everything that’s going on, it’s actually really hard to find hours (at Sunmount),” he said. “Everyone that is a per-diem is flooding to the community houses. Most per-diems hold anywhere between 10 or 20 hours a week, but most work five days a week at another job. They would have a primary, while Sunmount was their side hustle. Now it’s reversed.”

He has an apartment in Lake Placid and said his living situation is all right for now. He said his landlord is waiving late fees and extending rent dues by 20 days. He appreciates his landlord’s understanding, but unless restaurants are up and running like normally, it won’t make the biggest difference.

“If this continues over two or three months, this will be a very serious financial situation (for me),” he said.

Brianna Knapton worked as a server at the Blue Moon Cafe and the Fiddlehead Bistro in Saranac Lake up until last week. She said this time of year is already slow for restaurants, and the virus has exacerbated that to an extreme.

She and her partner, Michael Portal, both have children from previous relationships. She said the current situation might make them have to expedite their relationship and move in with each other to save money.

Though serving was her main source of income, Knapton is a singer by trade. Portal is the musical director at Northwoods School, and Knapton has helped produce some of the school’s shows in the past. Together, they’re in a music group called the Curios.

Right now, Knapton is trying to find more creative ways to gain income and keep the arts alive in the North Country. She’s in the process of creating Adirondack Healthy Arts, a group of local artists who would provide free and paid-for live streaming content such as guitar lessons, makeup tutorials and salsa dance instructions. She already has seven artists interested, and she hopes to get the offerings available to the public soon.

Outside of finances, Knapton said the people she worries about are the older folks who had made it a daily ritual to get breakfast or coffee at the Blue Moon and socialize. Seeing their faces every day let Knapton know those people were doing OK.

Fred Bomyea has worked as a bartender at The View at the Mirror Lake Inn in Lake Placid for the past two years. He said the job’s pay was comfortable and helped support his wife and two kids.

“I’m lucky enough to collect unemployment,” he said. “And our employer is keeping our health and dental insurance in place.

“What I’m collecting through unemployment will be likely 50% less than what I make in a week.”

Bomyea’s wife, Samantha, is a co-owner of the S&S Hair Design salon in Lake Placid, which also had to close because of state mandates. As a business owner, her process for filing for unemployment is more difficult.

Contrary to Knapton, Bomyea said it’s better to have the closures now when business is slower.

“This is not as bad as it would be if it happened in July or August,” he said.

He said he doesn’t have a plan for the future. Instead, he’s waiting to see how the situation evolves before he tries to find a new job.

“I’ll give it about a month before I start looking around,” he said. “We haven’t thought too much ahead. We’re seeing how long we can survive on our savings, but my wife is actively looking for part-time work.”

Amid all the uncertainty, Bomyea said there is an upside.

“I get to spend more time with my family,” he said. “I don’t get the chance to see my children often because I work nights, so these past few days have been great.”