| Hey all, it's Natalia. The world is shrinking. Well, that's what it feels like anyway. Brussels, where I live, has long been the European epicenter of power lunches and coffee meetings. As recently as last month, it was drawing global tech executives like Mark Zuckerberg on pilgrimages to win the favor of European Union regulators and to fend off antitrust scrutiny. But last week, the Belgian government called for the closure of all bars and restaurants in the country. Soon after, President Trump shut down travel from Europe to the U.S. And now, the European Union may cut off all non-essential travel into the bloc, even as some individual countries mull their own restrictions. The moves come as the virus exacts a devastating toll on the continent. On Wednesday the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths in Europe surpassed China's. In Italy alone, which has been on police-enforced lockdown since last week, there have been nearly 3,000 deaths so far. In Brussels, with 1,486 cases at last count, the effects of the social distancing have been tangible. The streets are quiet while EU officials pivot from developing new rules on artificial intelligence to trying to rescue businesses from the economic impact of the virus. The fallout from the lockdown is both vast in scale and, at times, acutely personal. I was looking forward to a visit from my mother in April that's now on hold indefinitely, and I've had friends who have cancelled their spring break trips. But as the walls close in on many Europeans, it's the global tech companies (their employees currently sheltering in place in the faraway Bay Area) that are making this moment more bearable, with services like Zoom Technologies Inc.'s video conferencing and Apple Inc.'s FaceTime. I've started taking the coffee appointments I had scheduled as Zoom appointments instead. Despite the occasional tech glitches (and rare cameos from my husband in the background), it's been a decent way to stay in touch with contacts. Even the EU's 27 leaders are holding their important summits via video conferencing (despite the security risks). "Social distancing doesn't have to mean social isolation," Belgian Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes said at a press conference this week, when she encouraged people to rely on technology and video to stay connected. In an era of travel bans and lockdowns, it's not the global companies that will get hit the hardest, though. Those most likely to lose out from the virus-related disruption are small businesses like restaurants. In my neighborhood in Brussels, some restaurants have posted make-shift signs advertising they're still open for take-out, an effort to save the little business they have left. And my local delis are starting to slash prices as rumors swirl that they may be out of business within weeks. An ironic twist as governments throw up increasingly strict borders is that when the dust settles the international corporate players may be the only ones left standing. —Natalia Drozdiak | 
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