WASHINGTON — U.S. movie theaters are closing nationwide due to the coronavirus pandemic, turning dark nearly all of the country’s 40,000-plus screens in an unprecedented shutdown.

United Airlines will slash 50% of its flying capacity in April and May and warns the cuts could extend into the peak summer travel season as the impact of the new coronavirus on airlines grows more dire.

And Apple announced it will shut down its retail stores until further notice, marking a change from its previous plan to reopen closed stores before the end of March, according to the Mercury News.

The hits kept coming Tuesday in relation to the coronavirus outbreak.

Airline bookings are plummeting and cancellations soaring as the virus continues to spread and claim more lives. United said Sunday night it expects planes to be only 20% to 30% full at best, down from nearly 90% before the virus hit.

The airline handled a million fewer passengers in the first two weeks of March than it did a year ago, and it expects March revenue to fall $1.5 billion below the year-ago pace, CEO Oscar Munoz and President Scott Kirby said in a letter to employees.

“The bad news is that it’s getting worse,” they wrote. “We expect both the number of customers and revenue to decline sharply in the days and weeks ahead.”

United’s management is talking to pilot and flight attendant unions about taking cuts in pay or hours.

Munoz said he has spent two days in Washington, D.C., exploring possible federal aid to the airline industry. The company offered no specifics on what the aid might look like.

United and other airlines have already cut back passenger-carrying capacity.

American Airlines announced late Saturday that it was suspending about 75% of its long-haul international flights, starting Monday and lasting through May 6, because of falling demand and U.S. government restrictions on travelers from most of Europe. American expects to cut U.S. flying by 20% in April and 30% in May.

American did not announce layoffs but plans to ground about 135 planes.

American will keep flying three international routes: Daily flights from Dallas to London and Miami to London, and three flights per week from Dallas to Tokyo. Shorter international flights to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America will continue.

Appearing on ABC’s “This Week” Sunday morning, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called the impact on the airlines and other travel industries unprecedented. Cruise lines have agreed with the Trump administration to suspend all sailings from the U.S. for 30 days.

Mnuchin indicated that one of the next steps for the federal government is to provide assistance to travel-related industries.

Cinemas hit hard

With most of Hollywood’s March and April releases already postponed, the Walt Disney Co. on Tuesday cleared out its May releases as well, including Marvel’s “Black Widow.”

The largest chains had tried to remain open even as Hollywood postponed its upcoming release plans and guidelines for social distancing steadily diminished the recommended size of crowds. But after President Donald Trump on Monday urged against gatherings of more than 10 people, AMC Theaters, the nation’s largest chain, said Tuesday its theaters would close altogether.

AMC said the latest guidelines made movie theater operations “essentially impossible.” It said it would close all locations in the U.S. for at least six to 12 weeks. Regal, the second largest chain, said Monday that its theaters would close until further notice.

The Walt Disney Co. also indefinitely postponed “Black Widow,” which had been set to open May 1. Marvel movies have for years been the regular kickoff to the summer movie going season. The company also put off the releases of “David Copperfield (May 8) and “The Woman in the Window” (May 15).

With movie theaters locked down for the foreseeable future, some studios took the extraordinary step of funneling new or recently released films onto home viewing platforms. Universal Pictures said Monday it will make its current and upcoming films available for on-demand rental, becoming the first major studio to break the traditional theatrical window of 90 days due to the pandemic.

The studio said it will put movies currently in theaters — “Invisible Man,” “The Hunt,” “Emma”— up for rental as early as Friday. It also said that “Trolls World Tour,” one of the only major releases left on the April calendar, will debut in theaters and on-demand services simultaneously. A 48-hour rental will cost $19.99.

Most of Europe’s cinemas have already shut down, as have those in China, India and elsewhere. North America’s shutdown came gradually. On Sunday, the mayors of New York and Los Angeles ordered their cities’ theaters closed. Governments in Massachusetts and Quebec also closed theaters.

Cinemark, the nation’s third-largest chain, hasn’t yet announced closures. But chains like the Alamo Drafthouse, Landmark Theatres, Showcase Cinemas and Bow Tie Cinemas have closed. Most of those that haven’t yet declared themselves closed are expected to do so this week.

Retailers cutting back

A growing list of retailers are closing stores or limiting their operating hours as customers remain home in an effort to slow the spread of the virus outbreak.

Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer and private employer, said late Saturday it is limiting hours to ensure stores can keep sought-after items such as hand sanitizer in stock.

Beginning Sunday, more than 4,700 Walmart and Neighborhood Market locations in the U.S. will be open from 6 a.m. to 11 pm. until further notice. Most super center stores are typically open 24 hours while some Neighborhood stores are as well.

“I don’t think any of us have been through an experience like this, and we continue to be amazed at what people, whether in the stores or in the supply chain, are doing to make sure customers have what they need,” Dacona Smith, chief operating officer, said in a statement.

Other retailers are following Apple and closing their stores, including Urban Outfitters, Everlane and Patagonia.

“This is a critical moment in the world,” Everlane posted on its website. “With the situation evolving very quickly, we must do our part in slowing the spread of covid-19”. Everlane says it will keep its online operations open, while Patagonia is closing down both its website and stores.

Infected employees

Supermarket chain Kroger said two of its employees have tested positive for the covid-19 virus and are recovering. One was employed at the King Soopers grocery chain in Colorado, and the other at Fred Meyer, a grocery chain in Washington state. Both are subsidiaries of Kroger’s.

The company also said it has enacted an emergency leave policy that allows for paid time off for workers diagnosed with the coronavirus and those placed under a mandatory quarantine by a doctor or public health authority.

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