In 2020, Black business ownership dropped by greater than 40%, essentially the most significant decrease across any racial group. This is essentially because Black-owned businesses were ill-equipped to navigate mandated long-term closures on account of an absence of access to money reserves.

Nearly three years later, echoes of that dark period are ringing louder with the recent declaration that monkeypox is now classified as an official public health emergency.

A poxvirus, monkeypox is described by the CDC as causing pimple or blister-like lesions, and flu-like symptoms similar to fever. It might also cause extreme discomfort within the genital and perineal areas. The virus may also reportedly be spread by skin-to-skin contact and respiratory secretions with recovery requiring isolation for as much as 4 weeks per the CDC.  

That last part, paying homage to the COVID-19 pandemic at its height, is what epidemiologist Zuri Dale, MWM, MPH warns is most economically alarming, particularly for vulnerable communities like Black business owners in service industries.

“While you take a look at the societal hierarchy of things, Black and Latinx communities usually tend to live in congregate settings,” said Dale, who’s an adjunct professor in the faculty of science, engineering & technology at Texas Southern University, specializing in viruses and vaccine hesitancy.

“They’re more more likely to live in closer quarters, and be employed in roles that place them in closer proximity to the general public. When you concentrate on a few of those social ramifications of being disproportionately employed in those careers, spatially, they’re at higher exposure than a few of their Caucasian counterparts.”

She identified that unlike other groups, there have been higher rates of Black hourly staff within the labor force versus other ethnic groups that were capable of work at home, or take significant paid time away to securely get better from COVID-19. This might repeat itself with the monkeypox crisis.

“Compounded with comorbidities weakening immune systems and just a better likelihood of severe complications, the disease is just further exacerbated because people have shown a high likelihood of wearing PPE. We have now potential to see the very same thing with monkeypox,” she warned.

“When you concentrate on being gainfully employed and the flexibility to take off work, numerous minority communities are only not afforded that chance,” Dale said. She added that “in hospitality or retail— the service-based industry at large doesn’t offer that option, particularly in beauty which is a booming sector for Black women founders.”

That is true. In 2019, Nielsen reported that Black women edged out every other racial group in spending when it got here to the multi-billion dollar beauty industry, shelling out an estimated $2.5 billion in haircare alone, in addition to overspending on personal care services.

Black women also outpace all other groups in starting businesses, a lot of that are in the sweetness sector. Dale, who’s a beauty entrepreneur herself knows first-hand how worrisome the monkeypox news could be for founders who’re in client-facing spaces. In 2018 she launched Artistry By Zuri, a semi-permanent makeup service business that always requires her employees to be in close proximity to clients’ faces for hours at a time. She advises owners in high-contact businesses to treat the pending health crisis as they’ve COVID-19, with extreme caution.

“All the time prioritize masking, even after we’re out of this scary era,” Dale said, declaring that the U.S. is behind other countries who’ve been wearing protective face gear in service businesses years before the pandemic struck. “While you go into nail salons which might be predominantly Asian-owned and operated, it’s never been unusual for the nail technician to guard themselves and clients by wearing masks because we’re all liable to the receipt of respiratory droplets.”

She says there’s hope though because disinfectants have the potential to kill each viruses–business owners just must be hyper-vigilant in using them.

“It’s necessary to speculate in and use medical grade disinfectant wipes after every interaction with an individual, otherwise significant challenges could arise.”