Businesses fear they are on the brink as a restaurant boss begs his diners to keep eating out after takings plummeted 75 per cent and bookmakers warn of lost profits thanks to sports ban.
Simon Wood - who won the competition in 2015 - says he's already noticing how hard the crisis is hitting the industry.
The chef-patron of Wood in Manchester fears for the coming months and said that as soon as a Covid-19 case hit the city it sparked a downturn.
The 2015 MasterChef winner Simon Wood fears for his restaurant and the wider industry as coronavirus panic sweeps the country
'I am quietly worried, looking ahead,' he told the Manchester Evening News.