Thingyan is usually an annual boom for many consumer-facing industries. People stock up on food and alcohol, spend money on concerts, parties and other events and full busses, planes and trains as they return to their homes for the holidays. But as the virus approaches 1.5 million worldwide cases, that most lucrative time of the year will simply pass Myanmar by.

For transportation, bus, air and train routes have been suspended. Several major highway bus services have cancelled services for routes between major cities. Air KBZ has suspended all domestic flights between April 11 and 18. Myanma Railways, too, has reduced its Thingyan schedule. Although at the time of writing the government has yet to issue a blanket shelter-in-place order, it is urging people to stay at home, which will mean fewer passengers in local public transportation and taxis.

Meanwhile, although grocery stores have seen massive crowds of people sticking up for isolation, restaurants and bars are closed or open for take-out only. The lack of movement will also stall freight traffic and supply chains, many of which continue as usual even during the holiday season. The highway bus system itself is used as a primary shipping method for many small businesses.

More people staying in will mean more power consumption, but the government has announced that it will grant “150 units” of free power households in the month of April. That measure will be a blow to the Ministry of Electricity and Energy’s ongoing effort to reduce government power subsidies and catch up with Myanmar’s surging demand for electricity.

Emergency soft loans available to companies in affected industries and all small and medium enterprises may soften the COVID-19 blow (see related article). The government is also weighing accepting loans from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other multilateral organizations. But these will likely only soften an inevitable economic downturn as the first wave of coronavirus cases begins to spread within Myanmar. Cancelling Thingyan may only be the beginning.