After it first surfaced in the Chinese city of Wuhan, four months ago, the novel coronavirus has claimed more than 51,000 lives and has affected one million people worldwide. So far, 208,00 people have reportedly recovered from this disease which has battered economies worldwide and created a public health emergency around the globe.

The health crisis has had a severe impact on the economy with many countries bracing for a global recession that is worse than the one we faced in 2008-2009.

So much so that Walt Disney Co. stated on Thursday that it would begin to furlough employees starting from April 19. “With no clear indication of when we can restart our businesses, we’re forced to make the difficult decision to take the next step and furlough employees whose jobs aren’t necessary at this time,” the company said, according to a statement emailed to MarketWatch. “The furlough process will begin on April 19, and all impacted workers will remain Disney employees through the duration of the furlough period. They will receive full healthcare benefits, plus the cost of employee and company premiums will be paid by Disney.”

At the end of its recent fiscal year, Disney had close to 223,000 employees.