US: Over 14.1M Cases - 278K Dead - 8.3M Recovered
Worldwide: Over 64.6M Cases - 1.4M Dead - 44.7M Recovered

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 225   Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 155
*Red indicates change in total deaths

Nearly the entire U.S. has become a COVID hot spot, government map shows
While top health officials continue to warn about a post-Thanksgiving COVID-19 surge in the weeks to come, the U.S. is already experiencing an unprecedented wave of the pandemic that has turned virtually the entire country into a hot spot, according to a new internal government map (shown below).

Last week, the U.S. passed a threshold once considered almost unimaginable - recording more than 200,000 new COVID-19 cases in a single day. Midwestern states like Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois and Ohio have been particularly hard hit in the latest surge.

Yet even with COVID-19 striking rural areas with particular force, a map included in an internal brief produced by the Departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services shows that almost every state in the country has multiple counties marked as "sustained hotspots." yahoo.com

U.S. Retail Is Winning Fight to Stay Open as Covid Strengthens
U.S. retailers are so far winning the battle to keep open stores that don't sell "essential goods" as a resurgent coronavirus brings new restrictions, a contrast from the early days of the pandemic that caused so much economic pain.

Staying open now is especially crucial with holiday shopping season entering its peak. Their core pitch is that their locations should stay open, regardless of what they sell, because they've spent millions on safety precautions and many are still operating at reduced capacity to ease crowds. There's also little evidence that stores have been big spreaders of the virus. However, that hasn't stopped other countries from closing nonessential retailers back down.

So far, the retail industry's campaign to keep open retailers that don't sell essential goods, like Macy's, is working, even as Covid cases keep rising.

"Governors, for the most part, have not gone backward and created an essential or nonessential designation," said Jason Brewer, executive vice president of communications and state affairs at the Retail Industry Leaders Association. States like New York, Illinois, California and Pennsylvania have increased restrictions without hitting the sector. "We think that's the right thing."

In the initial wave, states ordered businesses to close, but had an exception for companies selling essential goods or services. This created a huge divide in retail. Big-box stores, like Target Corp. and Home Depot Inc., reaped the benefits of staying open because they sold vital items, such as toilet paper, food and tools. Meanwhile, everyone else got crushed, causing thousands of job cuts. Among department stores, second-quarter revenue fell 35% at Macy's Inc. and 52% at Nordstrom Inc., and J.C. Penney Co. filed for bankruptcy.

Reduced Risk

Specific super-spreader events haven't been documented at retail stores, like they have other establishments, according to Lisa Lee, a public health expert and associate vice president for research and innovation at Virginia Tech. Bars and restaurants where people are drinking and letting their guards down are more likely spread the virus, she said.

"We no longer are living in a time where we go to a department store to browse around for a few hours," Lee said. But governments and retailers still have to "thread that needle to make it safe enough for people to go and not turn it into a situation that is as risky as a bar or a restaurant."

There is not a national order categorizing retailers into these groups. Instead, each state decides for itself. That's why there is still concern that some states might reissue orders mirroring the first wave, according to David French, senior vice president of government relations at the National Retail Federation. New Mexico is the only state that's made a delineation between essential and nonessential when ordering new restrictions, he said. bloomberg.com

AP Asks: Is shopping in stores safe during the pandemic?
There are ways to reduce risk, but health experts advise avoiding it when possible.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says holiday shopping in crowded stores is a "higher risk" activity and that people should limit any in-person shopping, including at supermarkets.

Instead, the agency recommends shopping online, visiting outdoor markets or using curbside pickup, where workers bring orders to your car. If you need to enter a store, go during off hours when there will likely be fewer people. Wear a mask and stay at least 6 feet away from others.

Try to spend as little time inside the store as possible, says Dr. Isaac Weisfuse, a public health expert at Cornell University. "You just want to go in and out," he says. "Get your shopping done and move on."

Retailers have been doing all kinds of things to make shoppers feel safe, but they don't eliminate the risk. Some check shoppers' temperatures at the entrance, for example, but an infected person may not have a fever and can still spread the virus. The plastic barriers between customers and cashiers also might not block all droplets from an infected person, Weisfuse says. If the air in a store feels stuffy, he says that's a sign of poor ventilation, and you should leave. apnews.com

Moved During Covid? A Third of Bosses Say They'll Cut Your Pay
As many as a third of remote workers who move to a cheaper place to live during the pandemic could end up getting a pay cut that offsets any savings, Willis Towers Watson found in a recent survey. About a quarter of employers said they will reduce pay to reflect lower living costs for relocated workers, and another 9% said they will cut compensation for workers who aren't in critical roles, according to the survey of executives at 344 North American companies in September and October.

The executives, who employ about 5 million workers in industries ranging from manufacturing to retail, also said that they expect more than half of their employees to work from home through at least the first quarter of 2021.

The pandemic is reconfiguring a large swath of the U.S. workforce, with about 35% of employees working from home because of Covid-19, according to the U.S. Census data. Many white-collar workers who had returned to the office are being forced back home by a recent record-setting spike in infections. Still, a majority of U.S. workers - those in sales, services and essential jobs - are unable to work from home. bloomberg.com

How you can fix 'burnout'
Burnout, though we may not always be aware of it, is all around us, and it's gotten a hold of more of us than ever before due to the pandemic. LinkedIn's Glint Platform reveals signs of burnout are up 33% in 2020. So what are we to do? Doctors Emily and Amelia Nagoski, a sisterly duo who wrote the book, Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle, suggest feeling all the way through emotions. This can help us be (and stay) connected, and to allow ourselves to be taken care of rather than insisting we take care of ourselves.

Jessi Hempel spoke with the Nagoski sisters for the Hello Monday podcast about how burnout affects us and what we can do to "complete" a stress cycle on an individual level. You can also check out this LinkedIn Learning video on well-being in the workplace. linkedin.com

Appliance brands roll out machines to fight COVID-19
New realities brought about by the novel coronavirus pandemic have led appliance makers to introduce machines that are billed as more hygienic than current models. LG Electronics has introduced refrigerators with sterilizing ultraviolet lights and Whirlpool has debuted washing machines with heating elements intended to kill germs and remove allergens. retailwire.com

UK becomes first country to approve Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine

What does UK vaccine approval mean for US?

CDC says 14-day quarantine best way to reduce Covid risk,
but 10- and 7-day periods work in some cases

How COVID-19 could disrupt store credit cards
 

RFID Journal LIVE! 2021 Postponed to Late September
In light of continued concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, including current government restrictions and limitations on large gatherings and travel restrictions, both domestically and internationally, RFID Journal has made the decision to postpone its annual RFID Journal LIVE! face-to-face event to September 2021. Originally slated to take place April 27-29, 2021, the new event dates are Sunday, September 26 to Tuesday, September 28, 2021, at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona. This date change is designed to provide participating brands and companies the time to effectively plan their participation during these challenging times. rfidjournallive.com

4 reasons why empty malls on Black Friday aren't a bad omen
for the holiday shopping season
Here are some takeaways from Black Friday 2020, and what it may tell us about holiday shoppers' habits, retailers' bottom lines, and the state of the industry:

Empty malls, busy websites
Black Friday has traditionally been associated with busy malls. Not this year. The event drove clicks to websites, rather than footsteps at shopping malls. Spending online soared nearly 22% to $9 billion, according to Adobe Analytics.

Strong categories had pricing power
Shoppers used the day to stock up on lotions and perfumes, comfortable clothing and kitchen appliances like air fryers and coffee makers, either to gift to others or to keep to themselves. The top categories and products largely fit into stay-at-home trends that retailers have seen throughout the pandemic, as people dress in athleisure while working remotely, cook more instead of dining out, and treat themselves to indulgences from candles to home spa products.

Curbside options drove sales
Despite stores being emptier, curbside pickup paid off for some retailers, as it attracted customers and lowered shipping costs. Curbside and in-store pickup - sometimes called "buy online pickup in store" - increased 52% on Black Friday year over year, according to Adobe Analytics.

Fewer markdowns
Shoppers who hit the malls or websites found deals - but the discounts weren't as deep or as dramatic as some may have anticipated. The majority of retailers kept their promotions on par with last year rather than slashing them more to inspire purchases, according to research by Jefferies. cnbc.com

Role of Stores Changing?
Retailers are okay with quieter Black Friday
Coresight Research described Black Friday 2020 as "the quietest in 20 years," but retailers aren't complaining as the length of the Christmas selling season has expanded due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

"The role of stores may be forever changed," said Hilding Anderson, head of retail strategy, North America at Publicis Sapient. "They are becoming increasingly relied on as fulfillment centers and experiential places for entertainment instead of for traditional shopping." retailwire.com

Washington D.C. Council votes to outlaw cashless stores
Cashless restaurants and retailers would no longer be able to operate in the nation's capital under legislation approved Tuesday by the D.C. Council. The legislation on cashless businesses, first proposed in 2018, is part of a growing resistance against a movement that critics say shuts out people without bank accounts as well as undocumented immigrants.

San Francisco, New York City and Philadelphia have recently started requiring retailers to take cash payments, as do the states of New Jersey and Massachusetts.

Some businesses say they prefer to avoid cash because of the risk of robbery and to reduce time spent managing hard currency. Sweetgreen, a salad chain founded in D.C., reversed its cashless policy after criticism that it was discriminatory.

If it becomes law, the prohibition would take effect after the public health emergency has been lifted. The novel coronavirus has fueled concerns about exchanging currency hand to hand. washingtonpost.com

Supply Chain Labor Abuse
Big Chocolate's Supreme Court case could have big implications for corporations
After years facing accusations over child labor, Big Chocolate took its case on Tuesday to the U.S. Supreme Court, with two companies - Nestlé USA and Cargill - arguing that they are not liable for human rights abuses committed on cocoa farms in Ivory Coast, the country that supplies much of the raw ingredient for their chocolates.

At issue is a legalistic question of whether the 18th-century Alien Tort Claims Act, or Alien Tort Statute (ATS), can be used by foreigners to sue U.S. corporations for gross violations abroad, including ones that violate international law like child slavery. That debate seems abstract on the surface, but it could have major implications for American businesses, whose labyrinthine global supply chains may reach into poor countries with patchy labor conditions far away from corporate headquarters. fortune.com

There Are More Female CEOs Than Ever, and Many of Them Are in Retail
In a year especially hard on many working women, the corporate world can hail one major milestone: A record 41 female CEOs are slated to be soon running Fortune 500 companies.

The Tuesday appointment of Lauren Hobart as the new chief executive of Dick's Sporting Goods Inc. brings the number of women running the biggest U.S. corporations to a new - albeit still relatively small - high. The rising numbers partly reflect companies' efforts in recent years to more systematically build a bench of senior female talent, particularly in the retail industry, executives and recruiters say.

More than in most sectors, women have made big strides in the senior ranks of retailers, getting promoted and recruited into roles that put them on the leadership track. At least 10 of the 41 female CEOs will be running retail chains, including Kohl's Corp.'s Michelle Gass, Rite Aid Corp.'s Heyward Donigan and CVS Health Corp.'s Karen Lynch, whose CEO appointment was also announced this month. Outside the Fortune 500, J.Crew Group said Tuesday it was replacing Jan Singer, who became its CEO in February, with another woman, longtime J.Crew executive Libby Wadle. wsj.com

Diversify, Disclose or Delist
Nasdaq pushes diversity requirements for company boards
Nasdaq has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to approve new listing rules that would compel the companies on its stock exchange to regularly report on the diversity of their boards and require that they have at least one female director and a member of an underrepresented minority. Companies that don't meet the criteria would have to explain why, according to the plan, or face possible delisting. washingtonpost.com

Retail Cornerstones Fall in Britain, Pushed by Fast Fashion and Pandemic
Debenhams and Arcadia Group, the owner of Topshop, collapsed despite extensive government programs meant to shore up British businesses.

Pandemic Cuts Foot Traffic in New York's Top Business Districts
Once-thriving Flatiron, Union Square neighborhoods see storefront vacancies surge from 9% to 36%

Men's Wearhouse owner exits bankruptcy

Walgreens pushing ahead with MD-staffed in-store clinics

Walmart names former Walgreens exec to lead health & wellness division

NFL Stars to Help Lowe's Deliver $1M Worth of Christmas Trees