US: Over 10.8M Cases - 248K Dead - 6.7M Recovered
Worldwide: Over 53.3M Cases - 1.3M Dead - 37.3M Recovered

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 219   Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 143
*Red indicates change in total deaths

Comments Requested
Flash Report: Here Are the Emergency COVID Regs
The Cal/OSHA Standards Board has published an extensive, 21-page emergency regulation regarding the spread of COVID-19 in workplaces. But the proposal, which the board will vote on November 19th, goes beyond workplaces to include employer-provided housing and transportation. It has new ominous reporting requirements.

The proposal comes in response to a request by Worksafe and the plaintiff's lawyers. There are sure to be plenty of stakeholder comments at next week's meeting. With the advent and expected delivery of a vaccine by the Trump administration, there are many questions about the need for this regulation.

If, as expected, it is approved by the board, it will go to the Office of Administrative Law and is projected to become effective by the end of November.

According to sources, changes are unlikely to be made no matter what the comments are from the business community.

Note: The Board has provided only a couple of days for comments. Cal-OSHA Reporter is making the full proposed reg available for download.

Click here to see the entire proposal. You can comment to the board at OSHSB@dir.ca.gov.

HHS enlists food and drug chains to boost COVID-19 vaccine access

About 60% of U.S. pharmacies could administer free coronavirus immunizations under partnership program

With several COVID-19 vaccines on the way, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is partnering with large chain pharmacies across the food, drug and mass retail channel and independent pharmacy networks to ensure wide consumer access to the eagerly awaited immunizations.

HHS said yesterday the Federal Pharmacy Partnership Strategy for COVID-19 Vaccination program will provide coronavirus vaccine coverage across about 60% of pharmacies in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Via partnerships with network administrators, independent pharmacies and regional chains will also be part of the federal pharmacy program, which HHS noted will help provide COVID-19 vaccination access in traditionally underserved areas. supermarketnews.com

Coronavirus Retail Restrictions by State - Updated by NRF Daily @ 6pm ET

This state-by-state map outlines coronavirus-related laws, executive orders, regulations and guidance governing store operations for retailers.

This resource is a part of Operation Open Doors, which provides guidance and tools that NRF members can use as they navigate operating stores across the country during this international health crisis.

These updates are provided in partnership with PwC Advisory Services and Salesforce. NRF Resource

U.S. Cases Top 150,000 for First Time & Hospitalizations Hit All-Time High

Driven by record infection counts in more than a dozen states

Across the country, daily caseloads surged. Illinois reported a record number of infections for the second day in a row. Ohio and Minnesota each topped 7,000 daily cases for the first time since the pandemic began, while Pennsylvania and Indiana reported more than 6,000 cases in a day, according to Johns Hopkins. Other states recording all-time highs included Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, South Dakota, North Dakota, Oregon, New Hampshire and Vermont. wsj.com

Covid-19 Vaccine Makers Face Russian, North Korean Cyberattacks, Microsoft Says

Hacking efforts appear to have compromised online accounts
of some of the targeted drug researchers

Cyberattacks originating in Russia and North Korea in recent months have targeted online accounts at seven companies researching Covid-19 drugs and vaccines, according to Microsoft and in some cases successfully.

Microsoft declined to name the targets or say what information may have been gleaned, but said the seven are leading pharmaceutical companies and vaccine researchers operating in the U.S., Canada, France, India and South Korea.

The pandemic has exposed computer security as a serious and potentially life-threatening problem. Last month, hospitals across the U.S. were knocked offline by a ransomware attack that forced doctors and nurses to use pen and paper instead of computerized systems and delayed procedures. wsj.com

As Covid-19 Surges to New Levels Across U.S., States Impose Flurry of Measures
Governors in New York, Maryland, Minnesota, Iowa, Utah and other states have imposed measures as the U.S.'s new daily case count exceeded 144,000 on Wednesday, the ninth day in a row it topped 100,000, while hospitalizations rose to a record 65,386, according to the Covid Tracking Project. The U.S. death toll surpassed 242,000; the total number of U.S. cases exceeds 10 million.

"It's on fire. We've got to slow it down," Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said in an interview Wednesday. "We've never seen anything like this. Our spring surge and summer surge were nowhere like this." wsj.com

People waiting to enter a drive-through Covid-19 testing site in Milwaukee this week.
 

National Safety Council (NSC) Publishes Benchmarking Report on COVID-19 Safety Practices Implemented in Business and Industry

A new report from the National Safety Council (NSC), State of the Response: Employer Actions to Address the Pandemic, provides an overview of how employers have been responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
The NSC survey sought to understand which COVID-19-related safety practices were being implemented in different organizations across different industries and operations types. The NSC created a list of 23 pandemic-related safety precautions that were recommended through its SAFER effort and included many best practices recommended by the CDC and other public health organizations.

The NSC also provided an infographic for a summary of its findings.

Overall, the most commonly implemented safety practices were "making hand sanitizers available throughout facilities; requiring mandatory face masks, shields, and/or other PPE; and requiring workers to clean and sanitize workstations before and after use (see Report Figure 7 (shown here below) for list of top 10 implemented practices)."

The least implemented COVID-19-related safety practices included increasing pay for frontline workers and instilling coronavirus testing either at home or at the worksite.

For more information on this or any related topic, please contact the authors, your Seyfarth attorney, or any member of the Workplace Safety and Health (OSHA/MSHA) Team. laborandemploymentlawcounsel.com

McKinsey and Company:
A Bad Week. U.S. Hospitalizations Reach All-Time High - 60,000+
It's different this time. In the spring and summer, hospitalizations were concentrated in a few northeastern cities and some areas of the South. Now rates are up across the country. And in 18 states, mostly in the Midwest, more than 10% of hospital beds are filled by COVID-19 patients. That's the threshold that signals the healthcare system may soon be overwhelmed - with respect to space, staff capacity, and availability of equipment such as ventilators. npr.org

In the US, hospitals have reported a fivefold increase in demand for isolation gowns, a sixfold increase for nasal swabs, and a 17-fold increase for N95 respirators. mckinsey.com

Robust OSHA Enforcement Coming in 2021
OSHA Fines for COVID-19 Safety Violations Reach Nearly $2.5 Million
OSHA announced on Nov. 6 that the agency has cited 179 worksites for coronavirus-related violations and proposed a total of $2,496,768 in penalties since the pandemic began, through Oct. 29.

Although the agency hasn't implemented any coronavirus-specific workplace safety standards, employers still must comply with existing standards that cover pandemic-related safety risks and the agency has released guidelines for limiting workers' exposure to the coronavirus.

OSHA has cited employers for failing to take the following coronavirus-related actions:

● Implement a written respiratory protection program.
● Provide a medical evaluation, respirator fit test, training on the proper use of a respirator and PPE.
● Report an injury, illness or fatality.
● Properly record an injury or illness.
● Comply with the general duty clause.

Priorities Expected to Shift Under New Administration
President-elect Joe Biden will appoint a new DOL leadership team, and the department may focus on more-stringent workplace-safety standards for employers. The Biden campaign's goals include a robust plan for OSHA to carryout pandemic-related enforcement. shrm.org

CA Cases Doubled in Last Month
Thanksgiving - A Painful Choice For Everyone
California & Texas hits 1 million coronavirus cases
"We all need to act now," she said during a briefing. "The actions we take today, tomorrow and next week have tremendous impact on the health and well-being of many, many people across the county. If, collectively, we fail to stop the acceleration of new cases, we will have no choice but to look at additional actions."

LA county is recommending that residents don't travel out of state for the holiday and, if they do, that they quarantine for 14 days upon their return.

California has generally banned large gatherings, and says smaller ones of no more than three households may be held outdoors with limitations, including time limits and requirements that attendees physically distance and wear face coverings.

Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said, L.A. County, like California as a whole, is seeing a renewed spike in coronavirus infections and hospitalizations that currently shows no signs of dissipating. latimes.com

If You Leave State - 14 Day Self-Quarantine on Return
California issues travel advisory ahead of holidays as COVID-19 surges
With coronavirus infections continuing to surge in California ahead of Thanksgiving, state officials are urging residents not to travel out of state for the holiday and recommending that those who do quarantine when they return.

Gov. Gavin Newsom issued the travel advisory Friday in conjunction with his counterparts in Oregon and Washington. latimes.com

Grocery stores enforce product purchase limits as COVID-19 cases surge
As COVID-19 cases in the United States spike, supermarkets and other retailers nationwide are taking action to ward off the bare shelves and hoarding of toilet paper and other basic supplies that defined the first several weeks of the coronavirus pandemic. One notable step shoppers will notice as they fill their carts, whether online or in-store: the reintroduction of purchase limits on certain items. yahoo.com

10% of Agency's Core Security Team Sidelined
Over 130 Secret Service agents isolating amid White House COVID-19 outbreak
More than 130 Secret Service agents assigned to protecting the White House or President Trump are isolating after they tested positive for the coronavirus or had contact with an infected colleague, according to a new report. The outbreak has been linked to the slew of rallies that Trump did in the weeks before the Nov. 3 presidential election.

One former senior Secret Service supervisor told The Post: "Being down more than 100 officers is very problematic." "That does not bode well for White House security," they said. nypost.com

CDC Report: Iowa is showing a Very High Influenza infection rate this week
One region, Region 7 (Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska), reported a percentage of outpatient visits for ILI (2.4%) above their region-specific baseline (1.7%).

219 security officers have been lost to coronavirus - 17 new deaths so far in November

NYC Mayor Tells Parents Plan for Monday School Shutdown

All Minnesotans ages 18-35 should get tested for COVID-19, health officials say