US: Over 15.1M Cases - 289K Dead - 8.8M Recovered
Worldwide: Over 67.5M Cases - 1.5M Dead - 46.7M Recovered

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 225   Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 158
*Red indicates change in total deaths

California Implements Stay-At-Home Order as Hospitalizations Spike

85% of Calif. Residents Under Strict Stay-At-Home Orders Through Christmas
Nearly 85% of California residents are now under sweeping new restrictions as the state's struggles to bring the COVID-19 pandemic under control. The new restrictions come as coronavirus cases continue to surge and while the state's intensive care capacity has neared dangerously low levels.

Residents in Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley are under a stay-at-home order through the Christmas holiday as of 11:59 Sunday evening. The order means strict new closures for many businesses and a ban on gatherings with people outside your immediate household in two regions of the state that are collectively home to some 27 million people. The order will be in effect for at least three weeks.

The order was triggered after ICU capacity in the two regions fell below a 15% threshold announced this past week by Gov. Gavin Newsom. In Southern California, the rate fell to 12.5%, while in the San Joaquin Valley it had dipped to 8.6%, state health officials announced Saturday.

"Unlike previous surges, every hospital in California is under stress. There is no place to transfer people if we run out of beds," San Francisco Health Officer Dr. Tomás Aragón said. "Three-quarters of the state's hospital beds are currently full."

The trend is expected to continue throughout the rest of the state within the next week or two.

Retailers, restaurants curtail operations

The latest directive will be felt in nearly every aspect of daily life. It asks residents to stay at home "as much as possible" and for "100 percent masking" when they are outside. Restaurants will be open only for takeout or pickup, while businesses such as hair and nail salons, movie theaters and bars will be closed. Playgrounds, museums and zoos will be closed as well.

Retailers, including grocery stores, will remain open, but capacity will be limited to 20%. Schools that are currently open will be allowed to continue in-person learning. Places of worship will also be allowed to stay open, but only for outdoor services. npr.org

California OSHA Implements New COVID-19 Workplace Rules
Effective November 30, 2020, Cal/OSHA approved new regulations impacting employers' obligations to prevent workplace exposure to COVID-19 and stop outbreaks. The rules apply to all employers regardless of size unless there is only a single employee with no contact to other people, employees working from home and employees covered by the Aerosol Transmissible Diseases regulation. The California Department of Industrial Relations also issued an FAQ on December 2, 2020.

See a short summary of what the standard requires employers to do here: foley.com

Backlash to California's New COVID Laws:

Orange County Sheriff Won't Enforce New California Stay-at-Home Order
"Compliance with health orders is a matter of personal responsibility and not a matter of law enforcement," Orange County, Calif. Sheriff Don Barnes said in a statement shared on Twitter. Deputies will not respond to calls only to enforce mask-wearing, social distancing, or social gathering restrictions, Barnes said. Instead, they will "respond to calls for potential criminal behavior and for the protection of life and property." yahoo.com

Shutdown backlash grows against Governor Newsom's statewide COVID-19 lockdown
Bar owner tears into Gov. Newsom for forcing her to close while a movie crew set up outdoor dining next door as public backlash over California's 'ridiculous' lockdown rules grows.

Retailers big and small react to looming COVID stay-at-home restrictions in California

Some Southern California business owners will defy governor's shutdown order


U.S. and Europe head in opposite directions
Europe is starting to beat the pandemic's surge. The U.S. is not.
A month ago, the pictures on both sides of the Atlantic seemed similarly grim. The numbers of coronavirus-related infections and hospitalizations were spiking in U.S. states and European countries. For all the dire press the American mismanagement of the pandemic had received, positivity and death rates in parts of Europe were higher than much of the United States through most of autumn. Leading politicians, though not all, echoed the same warnings: If people hoped to celebrate the winter holidays, they would have to first curtail travel and accept new rounds of restrictions.

As we enter the second week of December, Europe appears to be rounding the corner. The seven-day average of newly confirmed cases is trending downward after countries imposed lockdowns or other social-distancing mandates, including closing bars and restaurants.

The story in the United States is markedly different. New daily caseloads shot up from roughly 100,000 positive tests a day to around 200,000 a day over the past month. By the end of the past week, the tally of daily coronavirus-related deaths was nearing that of those slain in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Though home to roughly 4 percent of the world's population, the United States now accounts for almost 20 percent of coronavirus-related deaths. One predictive model forecasts 539,000 virus-related U.S. deaths by next April. washingtonpost.com

Officials across Europe implement a wave of varied restrictions for Christmas
As a deadly wave of coronavirus cases extends across Europe, several countries are planning to loosen restrictions over the holidays to allow families and friends to gather.

In a four-day period beginning Dec. 23, people across Britain can form a Christmas bubble, which will allow members of up to three households to spend time together in private homes or to attend places of worship.

In Germany, officials have agreed to extend a partial lockdown to Jan. 10, but loosen restrictions from Dec. 23 to Jan. 1, allowing private gatherings of as many as 10 people from any number of households.

Spanish officials have decided to allow travel between regions to see relatives and close friends, but said that social gatherings around Christmas and New Year's Day must be limited to 10 people if not from the same household.

In France, residents will be under a nationwide curfew from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. beginning Dec. 15, when a national lockdown ends. However, the curfew will not apply from Christmas Eve to New Year's Eve, officials said.

While some countries are becoming more permissive, Italy will tighten its restrictions on Christmas Day, Dec. 26 and New Year's Day, when residents will be prohibited from leaving their hometowns. Travel will be banned between regions in Italy from Dec. 21 through Jan. 6, and an 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew will be implemented. nytimes.com

Long a Holdout From Covid-19 Restrictions, Sweden Ends Its Pandemic Experiment


Corporate & Store-Level Recommendations
How to Get Customers Onboard With Safety Measures
Since spring 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way most people live throughout the world and directly impacted retailers and the way they operate - especially those deemed essential, such as convenience stores. Safety measures including social distancing, hand sanitizing and mask mandates have become a part of everyday living for both customers and store employees, and c-stores around the world have adopted these policies to keep everyone safe.

Not all customers, however, are happy to comply with such mandates and measures. As a result, retailers have been left to find ways of enforcing pandemic policies at their locations. Among the methods being utilized are employee training, store signage, store layout changes, increasing labor, and even offering free masks to customers who come in without one.

"There are CDC guidelines but no overarching mandate, so everyone is left to police and ensure compliance on their own and even though a store might have a sign that says a person must wear a mask, when someone comes in and refuses to wear one, it's up to the employee and the establishment to ensure compliance," said Oscar Villanueva, managing director of security services at R3 Continuum, based in Minneapolis, Minn., which focuses on crisis response, mitigation and management.

If an employee is not trained in hostility management or de-escalation techniques, they will be ill-prepared to confront such customers and many will defer to the store manager, who without training may not be prepared either, Villanueva noted.

"There have been news stories about an employee getting an arm broken in Target over a confrontation with a customer, and in Bed Bath and Beyond, the employee got a manager but ended up punching a woman in the face," he said, explaining that incidents like this can be avoided with training and a well-defined plan from the corporate level.

He believes clearly defined company policies outlined and communicated from the corporate level are key and says it would be helpful for managers and supervisors to get high-level training on hostility management and de-escalation techniques, while employees should receive some type of awareness training.

Recommendations for store-level employees and managers | Recommendations for the corporate level | csnews.com

Holiday Shopping Surge Highlights Importance Of OSHA's
COVID-19 Guidance For Retailers
With the holiday shopping season in full swing, now is a good time for retail employers to review their policies and procedures to protect workers from exposure to COVID-19. Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, employers are required to provide employees with a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical injury or harm. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has put together a resource center to provide guidance in this year's unique holiday shopping season. Although many of these tips are likely already common practice (or even required by state or local COVID-19 orders), it is important to stay vigilant this holiday season as shopping - when contact occurs between workers and customers - will only increase.

Social Distancing | Hygiene and Cleaning | Employee Illness | Retail Engineering Controls | Retail Administrative Controls | PPE and Safe Work Practices |  jdsupra.com


Kroger faces $85M lawsuit from hand sanitizer supplier
A New York-based manufacturer has filed an $85 million lawsuit against Kroger for allegedly refusing to accept a large order of hand sanitizer and antibacterial soap it made when consumer demand was surging for personal protective equipment due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. K7 Design Group, which manufactures and sells the "Ultra Defense" brand, alleges in the complaint filed Dec. 2 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio that the grocer ordered "way too much" hand sanitizer worth more than $100 million and has since refused to pay for or accept delivery. "Because Kroger reneged, K7 has been left with a huge quantity of hand sanitizer for which K7 has no other use," the complaint stated. grocerydive.com

Demand for Covid vaccines expected to get heated - and fast
Experts say they expect attitudes about the coronavirus vaccines to shift dramatically from hesitancy to "Beanie Baby"-level urgency.

Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout Faces Public Concerns Over Safety
The speed of testing and development is one of the biggest factors fueling fears, as countries world-wide move toward approvals.

UK prepares to give first Covid-19 vaccinations as the world watches

LAPD loses veteran officer to COVID-19, agency's 3rd death from virus

Michigan: COVID-19 outbreaks in retail settings reach highest peak, data show

Cuomo: If hospitals are overwhelmed, New York regions will shut down again

NYC elementary schools are reopening while other cities move in the other direction

Biden Names Health Secretary, COVID Czar, Other Key Members To Health Team