As COVID rages on, small businesses find a way. For now.

When tourism in Miami falls under the weather, the rest of South Florida’s economy usually gets the flu.

And now, with tourism ground to a halt—something reflected in the avalanche of layoffs at hotels across the area due to the COVID-19 pandemic—the ricochet effect on small and medium sized-businesses has been substantial.

There’s the limo service operator in Doral who’s had to lay off but a handful of his 20 drivers, his expensive vehicles largely sitting idle in a warehouse.

And the catering company that has almost no parties or conventions left to cater.

It’s also reflected in the Census’ own survey of small business sentiment in the Greater Miami area. After steadily falling as the pandemic appeared to ebb, the share of South Florida firms saying revenues have declined has ticked up for the past two-straight weeks, and now stands at 46%. The same phenomenon was seen in small businesses saying they’ve been forced to reduce payrolls: After hitting a low of 8.4% for the week ended June 13, the percentage has now climbed to 13.5% for the most recent week surveyed.

But South Florida’s small business also have a legacy of resiliency and finding ways to survive. There’s the comic book store on Bird Road that is putting valued items, like a vintage “Incredible Hulk” release, for sale to keep the lights on.

Or the used bike shop in South Dade that has seen booming business because the world has literally run out of new bikes.

But uncertainty lingers. Without more state or federal assistance, it is not clear how long these businesses will continue to stay open.

As the limo operator, Lenin Fraga, said, “It’s completely out of our hands. The government has to step up and continue to subsidize small businesses. If they’re going to close us down, they have to help us out. If not, we will be out of business.”