US: Over 13M Cases - 266K Dead - 7.6M Recovered
Worldwide: Over 60.3M Cases - 1.4M Dead - 41.7M Recovered

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 225   Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 152
*Red indicates change in total deaths

A Detailed Map of Where Americans Are Staying Home for Thanksgiving


Click interactive map to see detailed city information

A U.S. Record: Two Million New Virus Cases in Two Weeks

US hits highest daily death toll since May; 6.4M vaccine doses likely in December
Federal government officials said the first 6.4 million doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine could be distributed to U.S. communities as early as December within 24 hours of approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

But the U.S. recorded its highest daily death toll since May on Tuesday, and experts warned that good vaccine news doesn't mean Americans should let down their guard over the holidays.

Several state restrictions go into effect Wednesday just hours before the Thanksgiving holiday, including a ban on alcohol sales at restaurants and bars in Pennsylvania. State health officials ordered restaurants and bars to not sell alcohol starting at 5 p.m. Wednesday until 8 a.m. Thursday in an effort to prevent social gatherings. usatoday.com

U.S. hospitalizations hit record for 15th straight day
More than 88,000 currently hospitalized for Covid-19 amid fall surge
There are 88,080 people currently hospitalized with Covid-19, setting a record for hospitalizations amid a continuing fall surge, according to the Covid Tracking Project. This is the highest number of Covid-19 hospitalizations the nation has ever experienced since the pandemic hit the US. Hospital systems around the country have been warning their staffing and ICU bed capacity are being stretched thin. cnn.com

CDC Finalizing Recommendation to Shorten Covid-19 Quarantines
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may soon shorten the length of time it recommends that a person self-quarantine after potential exposure to the coronavirus, hoping that such a step will encourage more people to comply, a top agency official said. CDC officials are finalizing recommendations for a new quarantine period that would likely be between seven and 10 days and include a test to ensure a person is negative for Covid-19, said Henry Walke, the agency's incident manager for Covid-19 response. Agency officials are discussing the exact time period and what type of test a person would be given to exit quarantine, he said. wsj.com

Airports become a surreal oasis from COVID fears, warnings
as determined holiday travelers take flight
It's Thanksgiving week at Los Angeles International Airport, and you could almost forget a pandemic is raging, aside from the masks obscuring travelers' faces. On Monday morning, people shuffled through check-in lines less than six feet apart and clustered around luggage conveyors awaiting their bags. Their presence defied both logic and health guidelines: governors and public officials have been pleading for weeks for people to stay home amid a rapid surge of coronavirus cases. But for some, the temptation to be with loved ones at the tail end of a trying year of fire, flood, politics and plague is too great. latimes.com

Retailers Develop Pandemic Workarounds
Ahead of Black Friday, Retailers Race to Navigate Surge in Covid-19 Cases

While holiday sales are expected to rise, companies remain worried about restrictions meant to slow coronavirus infections

Retailers are bracing for new Covid-19 restrictions that could weigh on holiday sales but hope investments in digital operations will allow them to better reach consumers than in the spring when the economy locked down. Demand at retail chains picked up over the summer and fall after companies reopened stores, leading to stronger-than-expected sales at many firms that had to temporarily close shops when the coronavirus was first spreading.

But on Tuesday, American Eagle Outfitters Inc. executives said coronavirus hot spots were having an effect on visits to its shops. Gap Inc. warned that the recent jump in coronavirus cases was a concern, saying the increase could dampen store traffic. And Abercrombie & Fitch Co. said it is assuming sales for its current quarter, which includes this month and December, will slow compared with recent demand levels.

Best Buy Co., like other chains, didn't provide a financial forecast for its quarter that covers the holidays. Sales for that period may taper off compared with the fall and inventory constraints for some products are expected to pose challenges, executives said.

The jump in new Covid-19 infections is generating worries for retailers that shut stores in the spring because they were considered nonessential businesses and reopened them over the following months. Retail chains have tried to attract customers by improving their digital-sales operations and spending on safety practices meant to protect store employees and reassure customers. wsj.com

Coronavirus: Retail workers 'scared' as cases surge
Labour activists in the US say big retailers like Amazon and Walmart must do more to protect workers as surging coronavirus cases coincide with the holiday shopping rush. They are calling for hazard pay, paid sick leave and better communication about outbreaks, among other things. The campaign comes as workers across the US have spoken out about condition and concerns over their health.

The workers rights campaign launched on Monday was organised by United for Respect, a workers rights non-profit that says it represents more than 16 million people across the US. Separately, the labour union UFCW, whose members include grocery and meatpacking plant workers, also called on employers to do more to protect staff. bbc.com

Coronavirus: How to be happier while working from home
Millions of people need a home office for the first time. Some have perched at kitchen tables or made do with a laptop on the sofa for months. But even if a vaccine comes soon, many people may never go back to the office full time. And the early signs of how the pandemic has affected our mental health are not good.

Levels of depression have increased, while in a recent survey by the Royal Institute of British Architects many people said working from home had made them more stressed.

So what can we do to keep us happier at home? See below and read more here: bbc.com

$1 Billion COVID Inmate Fraud
Tens of thousands of California inmates carried out 'staggering' Covid fraud
Tens of thousands of prison and jail inmates, including convicted serial killers and notorious inmates like Scott Peterson, have carried out what prosecutors described Tuesday as possibly the largest fraud scheme in California history.

The alleged crimes, which center on pandemic unemployment benefits, could total as much as $1 billion, Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said.

Between March and August, Schubert said, inmates housed in every California prison and in jails across the state filed 35,000 claims totaling $140 million in benefits. Sometimes those benefits were paid directly to inmates inside the facilities, she said. In other cases, the money was sent to relatives and friends outside the prisons and jails. nbcnews.com

Governors take heat for violating their own coronavirus restrictions

Protests Against Gov. Newsom's Curfew Throughout California and at Newsom's House

Closed for Covid: Gun Permit Office Dragged Into Philadelphia Court

Link to meatpacking found in up to 8% of early U.S. COVID cases

Flight map shows staggering amount of flights ahead of Thanksgiving amid COVID-19

Answers to Every Possible Pandemic-Thanksgiving Question
 

Reimagining Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Executive producer shares how the team is keeping this year's event festive and safe

NRF spoke with Susan Tercero, executive producer of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, to learn about the steps Macy's is taking to ensure this year's parade will feel as close to traditional as possible while adhering to health and safety measures.

Let's talk about this reimagined event. What can viewers expect?

The good news for everybody accustomed to watching the parade at home, is that it's going to look and feel very similar. You're still going to see a parade marching down 34th Street. Viewers will see the floats and balloons and the celebrity performances, and the traditional broadcast will feel very familiar. There are some pieces that we will record a bit earlier, but a majority will be live. Obviously, there will be a lot less people on the street, but there will be marchers - just fewer of them.

Macy's employees have always played a huge role in the parade. To what extent were you able to re-engage them this year?

Here at Macy's the parade is very much a part of the heart of our company; the employees have always been supportive and engaged and they are working to support the parade in different ways this year.

We are only going to be able to have about 25-30 percent of our normal volunteer base, but we are still engaging the Macy's employees. nrf.com

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 2020: How to watch and what's not happening

The D&D Daily's Previous Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Coverage
Behind the Scenes from an LP Perspective Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 2014 | 2015 Macy's Annual Thanksgiving Day Parade: How an Old-School Tradition is Meeting Modern-Day Security Threats 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019

Retailers plan for a Black Friday like no other
Those tightly packed Black Friday lines that snake through the mall parking lot in the dead of night, past tents and lawn chairs and coolers stacked with still-warm Thanksgiving leftovers, are not exactly conducive to social distancing.

That puts retailers in a difficult position ahead of a hyped shopping day typically marked by frenzied crowds and predawn doorbuster deals. With COVID-19 cases spiking across the country and public health officials urging Americans to stay home as much as possible - plus a new curfew covering 94% of Californians - in-store shopping on the day after Thanksgiving will be a subdued affair.

That's leading to some mixed messaging from retailers: Come out on Black Friday, but not all at once. Consider just shopping online. Can't get around to it this weekend? No problem - holiday discounts, which began earlier than ever, will continue for weeks.

With retailers hampered by temporary store closures, capacity limits and stay-at-home orders since March, many have been pointing shoppers online for months. They've also been spreading holiday deals out, starting as early as October and promising to keep them going well into December.

Retail watchers say that despite a challenging year, there are signs that pent-up demand and "guilt gifting" will boost sales during the all-important end-of-year period. latimes.com

Thanksgiving Canceled? Christmas Shopping Isn't.
Typically, retailers want their stores teeming with shoppers over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. This year? Not so much. To allow for social distancing, Walmart Inc., for example, has said its stores will allow 20% of their typical capacity on Black Friday, while Target Corp. will set limits on store by store. Most big chains will remain closed on Thanksgiving, a day that attracted 37.8 million in-store shoppers last year.

But a quieter Black Friday shouldn't sting too badly if retailers' other seasonal strategies are working out according to their plans. They began pummeling shoppers with Black Friday-like discounts ahead of the usual schedule. If that worked, then it shouldn't be too concerning if crowds are thin this weekend. Retailers have also invested in their e-commerce operations, often by launching or building awareness of curbside pickup options, to make up for some of the lost in-store sales.

Perhaps the best news for retailers ahead of this unusual Black Friday is the trail of recent breadcrumbs about consumers' willingness to spend despite a raging pandemic and gloomy economy. Several retailers have delivered gangbusters earnings reports in recent days. washingtonpost.com

The World's Famed Shopping Streets Are Preparing for the Worst
World-famous shopping districts are preparing - and bracing - for a holiday season unlike any they've ever seen. Many consumers are still wary of visiting stores, with the coronavirus pandemic reignited in much of the world. Travel restrictions will also slash the number of wealthy tourists normally relied upon to spend oodles of cash this time of year.

But luxury stores are still putting forth their best socially-distanced effort. They're filling windows with Christmas displays in a bid to salvage a crucial holiday season after Covid-19 wreaked havoc on retailers from Tokyo to New York. Here's a look at what it's like on the ground at these prominent thoroughfares as Black Friday approaches:

Fifth Avenue, New York
Fifth Avenue is still home to two of the glitziest department stores in the world: Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman. But the numbers have dwindled in recent years, with Henri Bendel closing its century-old store and Barneys New York, just a block off the strip, liquidating. Several storefronts, including the former Ralph Lauren flagship, remain vacant. Its stores are now preparing for a muted holiday rush, with little or no tourists in sight.

Bond Street, London | Champs-Elysees, Paris | Ginza, Tokyo | Causeway Bay, Hong Kong  businessoffashion.com

Fortune: Best Workplaces in Retail 2020
Fortune recently announced its 2020 Best Workplaces in Retail. Great Place to Work surveyed more than 900,000 employees across the U.S. in the retail industry. Questions focused on their experiences with their companies, including the effectiveness of leaders, company values and ability to reach their full potential.

Left for dead, twice, RadioShack gets another shot online
RadioShack, a fixture at the mall for decades, has been pulled from brink of death, again. It's the most prized name in the basket of brands that entrepreneur investors Alex Mehr and Tai Lopez have scooped up since the coronavirus pandemic bowled over the U.S. retail sector and sent a number of chains into bankruptcy protection. Mehr and Lopez plan to make RadioShack competitive again, this time online, rather than on street corners or in malls. detroitnews.com

ICSC: Shoppers to spend $470 during Thanksgiving weekend

Best Buy to close all its Mexican stores

List: Stores Closed on Thanksgiving 2020

List: Black Friday Store Hours for 2020
 

Senior LP & AP Jobs Market

Director, Asset Protection job posted for Casey's in Ankeny, IA
The newly formed Asset Protection team is looking for a leader to oversee AP strategies and objectives to enhance awareness among team members across the organization. Your main objectives will be to mitigate shrink and protect company assets by leveraging data analytics and insights to improve results, protect people, property and profits. linkedin.com