As of this writing, 48 countries have reported cases, worldwide stock markets have fallen precipitously, all schools in Japan have been closed, Friday prayers in Iran have been canceled, and Saudi Arabia has halted all travel to Mecca. The Vatican has closed Rome’s catacombs. The IOC may cancel the Japan Olympics. Iran’s Vice President was seen on television recently sweating profusely and wiping his face. He was reported to have contracted the virus a few days later. Two cases – one in the US and one in Germany – are said to have occurred with no known contact with other infected persons.

Deadline estimates that the economic impact on the entertainment industry worldwide could exceed $4 billion through March.

At the Berlinale, which got underway on February 20, organizers made do with distributing disinfectant in toilets and instructing attendees to report suspected cases. A special isolation unit at a local hospital was ready and the Berlin Institute for Virology standing by, according to the festival’s website. Visitors from China were given “comprehensive information on arrival” although 118 accredited attendees canceled, including those from Wanda and Alibaba Pictures. The China Pavilion at the European Film Market was scrapped. It’s worth mentioning that the German embassy in Beijing is temporarily closed.

For the moment Cannes Lions, the advertising and commercials confab, scheduled for June 22 is going ahead. SXSW, planned for March 13, is doing the same and so is CinemaCon starting March 30, with Warner, Paramount, Disney and Universal still expected to attend to make presentations of their upcoming slates to international distributors. On the other hand, the Venice Biennale canceled its press conference in London scheduled in the first week in March. The Hong Kong International Film Festival which was to start in March has postponed the event till the summer, and the first case in Cannes has led the renowned festival to issue a statement saying “the Festival de Cannes is monitoring carefully the developments and the latest guidelines provided by the local, national and international authorities regarding the coronavirus.‘

Japan’s Tokyo Disney Resort has been closed. Korea has canceled all BTS concerts in S. Korea which is a hub of the infection with reported 2,337 cases. Italy’s Far East Film Festival has been postponed from April to June. At the Dries Van Noten show at Paris Fashion Week attendees wore face masks, while one designer label, Marine Serre debuted them as a fashion accessory on the runway. The Game Developers Conference in San Francisco lost Sony Interactive Entertainment, Facebook Gaming, Microsoft and Electronic Arts as attendees even before a local emergency was declared in the city.

The biggest worry for Hollywood is the potential impact of the virtual shut-down of China, which made a record $9.2 billion in 2019, 20% of worldwide revenues, according to the Los Angeles Times. Poised to become the world’s largest movie market this year, that goal is now thwarted with the closure of all screenings in cinemas, gutting the Chinese New Year box office. April’s Beijing premiere and press tour of the new Bond film No Time to Die is a no-go. (The last one did $84 million at the Chinese box office.) Film production has stopped in the country. The absence of the free-spending industry professionals at film markets and festivals will put a huge dent in sales and deals. And oh, Shanghai Disneyland is closed.

Some studios are postponing international releases of some films such as Universal’s The Invisible Man, Sonic The Hedgehog from Paramount, and Disney’s Onward. But Disney’s biggest disappointment is surely the postponement of Mulan, the studio’s new $200 million China-themed live-action adaptation of the animated tale, that was set to open late March with that country its likely biggest market. Marvel’s Black Widow, with a day-and-date release date of late April, is also likely postponed. So may Fast and Furious 9 opening worldwide in April. Top Gun: Maverick had removed the Taiwanese and Japanese patches on Maverick’s flight jacket to appease the Chinese backers of the movie, scheduled to open in China in June, according to Mic.com. Paramount is expected to take a huge hit if the theaters are still shuttered by then.

There are also worries that if China’s 70,000 movie theaters don’t open soon, piracy of new releases would be rampant, further costing the US film industry.

According to Variety, Sony Pictures has canceled all Asia Pacific travel. Universal and Paramount employees have been advised not to travel to China.