Coronavirus Update


Coronavirus Map: March 9 Update

Tracking the Spread of the Outbreak in the U.S. and Abroad

  

Coronavirus impacts everyone in retail - from execs to employees and consumers

The employee angle: Walmart, Target, and CVS workers describe working in coronavirus panic

Business Insider spoke to 20 retail workers from 13 states across the US, eleven of whom work at Target, nine at Walmart, and one at CVS. They revealed the intense pressure associated with working during coronavirus panic.

Employees described what it has been like to keep shelves stocked amid a rash of panic buying. They expressed fears about getting sick and missing work due to what they described as strict attendance policies and limited or no paid sick leave.

The management angle: How companies are dealing with coronavirus concerns

Each company has a different strategy when it comes to dealing with the coronavirus situation. Walmart sent out a memo last Friday to update store employees on the coronavirus outbreak, instructing them to stay home when sick and explaining how to properly sneeze and cough to prevent the spread of germs. Walmart is also restricting all cross-border international travel to business-critical trips for employees.

Other companies, like Target, have employed different methods. Target sent an email to store managers that urged them to carry on "business as usual." Meanwhile, employees in Target stores across the US said they felt confused, scared, and nervous regarding the lack of communication from management. Target also canceled an in-person investor meeting that was scheduled for Tuesday and held it virtually instead.

The consumer angle: empty shelves and overcrowded stores

Across the world, stores are selling out of cleaning supplies and food staples as shoppers panic buy. Last weekend, Costco stores were overrun with shoppers stocking up on goods. Customers reported long lines, crowded stores, and empty shelves.

Nielsen data revealed spikes in sales of masks, thermometers, and certain foods starting as early as January in the US. Here are the items that are most likely to sell out. businessinsider.com

Can retailers ensure stores are coronavirus-safe?
Suspending in-store sampling, not accepting reusable cups, sending letters to customers and deep cleaning are some steps retailers are taking to reassure customers it's safe to shop amid the coronavirus outbreak.

A Coresight Research survey taken from February 25 to 26 found nearly three-quarters of U.S. consumers would stay away from stores if the outbreak worsens. On Feb. 26, the U.S. had 60 confirmed cases and the first death was reported on Feb. 29. As of Sunday night, cases surpassed 500 and the death toll reached 21.

Costco has suspended free samples from some stores in response. Trader Joe's is now handing out samples individually instead of keeping pre-plated samples on a platter.

Starbucks has suspended the use of personal cups while announcing it is increasing cleaning and sanitizing across stores. Store teams were given protocols "on how to report and support anyone that may express they've been impacted by the virus, including store closure decision making support."

Apple, according to Business Insider, is increasing the presence of cleaning staff, installing hand sanitizer stations in stores and asking employees to wipe down demo devices and surfaces more frequently.

At the Japanese beauty store, Shibuyala, on St. Marks Place in Manhattan, all associates this weekend could be seen wearing face masks.

On Saturday, Nordstrom's top leaders, Erik and Pete Nordstrom, wrote a letter to customers to inform them that the retailer has increased the "frequency and extent" of daily store cleanings, added hand sanitizers and is taking steps to ensure employees have the resources to stay healthy. retailwire.com

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Connex Helps Retailers Impacted by Coronavirus Connect and Share Information
 

Coronavirus: Travel & Trade Show Impact

Walmart cancels U.S. Customer conference in Dallas this week,
restricts cross-border travel

No Traveling for Meetings, Conferences or Trade Shows

Walmart Inc. is canceling a conference planned next week in Dallas and restricting all cross-border international travel due to the escalating coronavirus outbreak.

The world's biggest retailer said in a statement that it was limiting cross-border international travel in all markets it operates to just "business-critical" trips and that such travel must get approval. For employees currently traveling, Walmart advised them to make plans to return.

The company also curbed domestic travel to only "essential operations," and will restrict less essential travel for conferences and trade shows, it said. The new guidelines will extend through at least April, it said.

Instead of holding its U.S. Customer Conference this week at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Walmart said it will have a virtual form of the meeting.

"It seems best to cancel given the size of that meeting, plus the benefit of having our store managers present in their stores during this time," it said in the statement. Within its offices, staff will still gather in groups for meetings but Walmart said employees should not travel for them. Employees should not to come into work if they are feeling unwell, it said. dallasnews.com

Coronavirus Is Devastating the Conference Circuit
World-wide, major conferences and trade shows are getting canceled or postponed at historic rates as the novel coronavirus leads companies to curtail nonessential trips and virus-hit countries restrict travel, leaving organizers with little choice but to call off international gatherings planned for months.

From Beijing to San Francisco to Geneva, the cancellations added up to millions of lost visits and tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue for local economies, a tally growing by the hour this week as conferences spanning everything from books and housewares to organic foods shut down.

Organizers in Asia, Europe and North America have canceled or postponed at least 440 trade shows and exhibitions in response to the coronavirus this year, including scores during the past week, according to German expo trade magazine m+a. The impact is reverberating across everyone from conference sponsors and exhibitors to airport shopkeepers and restaurateurs to hotel clerks and bartenders dependent on tips. wsj.com

What the CEO's Are Reading
Industry Trade Shows Wary of What Happens Next
The Covid-19 coronavirus claimed another victim last week: The Inspired Home Show, the largest U.S. trade show for the housewares and related industries. It comes as another big gathering for retailers, Shoptalk, also has just announced it is postponing its March event in Las Vegas to the fall.

Without these shows, retailers and the suppliers who sell them will have to arrange for other ways to do business. These include one-on-one visits, video conference calls or all manner of digital communication. therobinreport.com

In Case You Missed It: ISC West 2020 Postponed to July 2020 Due to Coronavirus

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Coronavirus: Employee Impact

What the CFO's Are Reading
How to Prepare for a Remote Digital Workplace
With companies taking various steps to protect employees' health in the face of COVID-19, it's important to be ready for working remotely.

Faced with the potential threat of Coronavirus, household names like Amazon, Goldman Sachs, IBM, and Microsoft are among a majority of North American companies that have instituted travel restrictions or work-from-home policies. But while the concept of working from home may sound simple, the preparation that goes into a 100% digital workplace is no small feat.

CFOs have little time to make investments and decisions. So we pulled together five questions they can ask their technology team in order to hit the ground running.

Do employees have the hardware they need to be successful?

Virtual collaboration 1: Are the right tools and technology in place?

Virtual collaboration 2: Do you have the culture to support it?

What is the best path forward for security and mobility?

Can the company's support desk handle a higher volume of requests?  cfo.com

Editor's Note: This may sound like old hat for most, but as the pro's say time and time again: It's always the basics that gets you. And revisiting these are critical if the coronavirus spreads more rapidly in North America. You might want to do an inventory now just in case. Just a thought

SHRM/CDC Webinar - Tomorrow - Tuesday, March 10 @ 11 am ET / 8 am PT
How Business, Workers and Workplaces Should Respond to COVID-19

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Amazon won't dock warehouse workers for missing shifts during coronavirus crisis
 

NYPD provides hard proof that no-bail law is causing a crime spike

February Robberies Up 33% - Burglaries Up 19% - Total Crime Up 22%

Mayor de Blasio admits "direct correlation" between NYC's law and recent crime surge

Mayor Bill de Blasio and the NYPD reported a major spike in crime for the second straight month and doubled down on blaming the jump on bail reform - even as public defenders charged police may be manipulating the stats to push their agenda.

(Read the Daily's coverage of January's crime spike here)

Major crime jumped by 22.5 percent in February compared with the same month last year, police said. For this year so far, crime is up 21 percent over 2019.

"Criminal justice reforms serve as a significant reason New York City has seen this uptick in crime," the NYPD said in its press release announcing the stats.

The bail law that took effect at the beginning of the year says that people charged with misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies must be released without being required to pay bail. De Blasio has been pushing for changes - currently the subject of a heated debate in Albany and a source of division among Democrats in New York.

"There's a direct correlation to a change in the law, and we need to address it, and we will address it," de Blasio said at a press conference at police headquarters, saying he was sure lawmakers would make changes by the April 1 state budget deadline - also a priority of Gov. Andrew Cuomo. "I am absolutely confident this will be addressed." politico.com dailymail.co.uk

Video: New York's Top Cop Blames Bail Reform for the Rise in Crime

'Genetic Stop-and-Frisk'?
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea defends city's use of DNA database for investigations
 

Amazon Launches Business Selling Automated Checkout to Retailers

Several unnamed retailers have already signed up

Amazon said Monday it will begin selling the cashierless checkout technology that powers its Go stores to other retailers. The "Just Walk Out" technology enables shoppers to "take what they want and leave" without the need to stop and stand in a checkout line. Cameras and other sensors through the store monitor which items shoppers take with them and charge them automatically when they leave.

Amazon has already inked several deals with retailers interested in bringing the cashierless technology to their stores, Reuters reported. It's unclear which companies plan to use the technology or how much Amazon is charging them to use it.

Amazon said it takes a few weeks for it to install the cashierless technology in retailers' stores, depending on whether it's being implemented in a new or existing store. For existing stores, Amazon said it will "work with retailer to install the technology while minimizing impact on current operations."

Unlike at Amazon Go stores, where users scan the Go app on a turnstile when they enter, shoppers scan their credit card on the turnstile at a store with the Just Walk Out technology. If shoppers need a receipt, they can visit a kiosk at the store and enter their email address, Amazon said. A receipt will be automatically sent to their email address the next time they visit any store with the cashierless technology. cnbc.com reuters.com

Amazon Physical-Store Boss Says Future of Retail is Years Away

Change in physical retail doesn't happen overnight - it could take years, if not decades

That was the message during an Amazon internal staff meeting last year, when an employee asked then-physical-stores boss Steve Kessel about the company's plan for "launching the future of retail" across Whole Foods and the grocery business in general.

Kessel, a 20-year Amazon veteran who left the company earlier this year, said most innovations take place over a long period of time. He likened Amazon's progress in physical stores to its shipping service. It took the company nearly two decades to shorten its standard delivery time to one day.

"The question frames it in a way where we would wake up tomorrow morning, and we would announce the future of retail - and most innovations, in my mind, don't happen that way," Kessel said, according to a recording of the meeting obtained by Business Insider. "Innovations happen by continued focus on smaller innovations over time."

At a time when Amazon is expanding its physical-stores business, Kessel's comments from last year draw renewed attention to the company's famously long-term thinking - and explain its continued investment in brick-and-mortar retail despite its failure to show meaningful growth in the space lately. businessinsider.com

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The future of drones and where the market currently stands

DroneDeploy report says automation is the next step in the evolution of drone tech

"Soon, self-driving drones will be programmed to fly a consistent path on their own, even taking off, landing and charging itself autonomously," the report concludes. "In 2020, drones in autonomous docks will be seen on construction and oil and gas sites. Enabled by advancing regulation, with a click of a button, pilots will be able to launch a drone out of a dock to map the world."

"Today, drones are well known as data capture devices, but in the future, we'll see them perform the full lifecycle: capturing data, analyzing this information and then acting on it," he says. "We'll see agriculture drones crop scout huge fields, detect weeds and other issues, and follow up by sending commands to drones that can spray an herbicide. Improvements in drone technology, evolution of AI and improved algorithms will make drones not just more useful, but critical to the supply chains across almost every industry in the primary and secondary economies."  smartbrief.com

Nominations open for 2020 Women in Biometrics Awards
The Security Industry Association (SIA) and SecureIDNews are accepting nominations for the 2020 Women in Biometrics Awards, presented with support from Idemia, Biometric Update and the SIA Women in Security Forum. Beneficiaries recognized for their work in the biometric identity and security industry will be awarded during the 2020 SIA GovSummit in Washington, D.C., June 2 and 3.

"The innovative women recognized each year as Women in Biometrics award winners have made incredible advancements toward creating a more secure world through guiding this crucial technology market, and SIA looks forward to welcoming the next class of awardees to this elite group" said SIA CEO Don Erickson in a statement.

Previous nominees and winners have worked for biometric companies, peripheral suppliers, system integrators, academia, government and security and IT departments at U.S. and international organizations. biometricupdate.com

Ex-RSA CEO on What the Board, Senior Management Need to Hear
Art Coviello, a partner at Rally Ventures and former CEO of RSA, recently met with a group of CISOs on the topic of presenting to the board. He was surprised - and not in a good way - at what he heard. Here are his tips for talking cybersecurity with senior business leaders.

In a video interview with Information Security Media Group at RSA 2020, Coviello also discusses:

● Where CISOs are falling short in communication;
● Threat trends in the marketplace;
● Technologies he's eyeing as an investor. govinfosecurity.com

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