Grocery and food delivery startup Honestbee has laid off 100 of its 130 staff and delayed the payment of salaries, citing a major hit to revenues following the closure of its shopping and dining store Habitat. The affected staff are primarily operations personnel at the store, which closed its doors on February 10 as the Covid-19 outbreak worsened and walk-in traffic plunged. In a statement on Wednesday, the company said that it did not foresee operating the store at full strength for the “next few weeks”.

The layoffs were reportedly so abrupt that some foreign staff did not find out until the Ministry of Manpower informed them that their work passes had been cancelled. This is not the first time Honestbee has carried out large-scale layoffs—last April, the startup slashed headcount globally, then in August laid off 10 percent of its Singapore workforce as it restructured. Neither is this the first time the company has been late in paying salaries; last year, it owed almost S$1 million in unpaid wages to its employees, although the Ministry of Manpower has since confirmed that the full amount has been paid.

This time around, it is uncertain when the late salaries will be paid, or if they can be. Honestbee is S$320 million (US$230 million) in debt and under court protection from its creditors, and at least one deal to obtain financing from an overseas investor has already fallen through. Under Singapore law, outstanding salary claims are ranked second in the list of preferred creditors, after liquidation costs: this means that employees will only be paid if the company is wound up, after secured creditors such as banks and investors have resolved their claims and the liquidation costs have been settled.

Besides closing its store, the company had last year downsized its headquarters, moving into a smaller location in an attempt to regain some revenue by turning its original offices into a coworking space. But no word on the success of the plan has since been forthcoming, possibly because its leasing terms have proved an obstacle. And on top of all this, the company’s original sectors, retail and delivery, are already seeing the knock-on effects of the coronavirus outbreak.