Canberra's big industrial zone is dead. Drive around the deserted streets of Fyshwick and there's closed door after closed door.
And every locked door is a shut till.
"The shop is closed," Ameer Murtaza, owner of Marco Furniture, says.
"If it's for the next three weeks, it's the loss of every day: no sales.
"And we have to pay rent: we have to pay warehouse; we have to pay staff."
He does do online sales but they are a fraction of his business.
"There's no way that people will buy a $4000 suite online," he says. "They want to come and see it."
He has a family, including three kids, to support. If the lockdown continues for more than a couple of weeks, he will have "no choice but to go bankrupt".
A few shops further down Barrier Street, Fisher Discounts hardware store is open as an essential service for tradies. Manager Alex Chang reckons business is down by about 90 per cent.
"It's very bad," he says.
Around the corner on Pirie Street, Trek Bicycle Fyshwick is open, but only to service bikes needed for work transport. Customers have to call a number and leave the bike outside. When the customer withdraws, staff come out, clean the bike and take it in for repair.
During last year's lockdown, they did stay open to trade, but with social distancing. This time is different because the Delta variant was so infectious, according to Trek's Jim Matthews.
Up Newcastle Street, King Ape Supplements is open as a seller of food.
"I worked out that if I carry on like this for five more weeks, I'll have to call it a day," proprietor Graeme Bennett says.
He is worried that whatever support there is from government, either federal or territory, won't cover the rent of the shop.
By late afternoon, he has had three customers in when normally there would have been 35 to 45.
Earlier this month, The Canberra Times talked to Paolo Celestino, who owns a normally busy cafe on Pirie Street.
His eyes were moist as he scanned the empty tables. He said that he felt a bit weepy.
"It's really difficult. It's just one step forward and two steps back," he said.
By last Tuesday, the doors were shut. Who knows when he will be back frothing flat whites?
The governments, both federal and territory, have recognised that times are inevitably difficult for traders if customers are locked up at home.
The Commonwealth declared the ACT a pandemic hotspot, and announced that eligible workers would be apply to apply for disaster payments from August 20.
Workers would be able to claim if they lost pay. Those who are eligible can receive $750 per week if they have lost 20 or more hours of work, and $450 per week if they have lost between eight and 20 hours of work, or a full day.
People on income support can also claim $200 if they have lost eight hours or more of work, and meet other requirements.
Outside the city, businesses have also suffered.
The skiing season is virtually over, with the slopes all but deserted for most of it. The lockdowns in Melbourne and Sydney blocked the inflow of the bulk of the trade.
In a normal year, 70 to 90 per cent of the area's trade comes from Sydney at the height of the snow season.
"Restaurants are only half full," Jindabyne Chamber of Commerce president Olivier Kapetanakos said.
Staff are being laid off, including ski instructors.
When Sydney sneezes, Canberra can catch a cold.
Economists fear the lockdowns in Melbourne and Sydney may drag the economy of the nation's capital down too.
