US: Over 26.1M Cases - 440K Dead - 15.9M Recovered
Worldwide: Over 101M Cases - 2.1M Dead - 73M Recovered

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 271  
Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 222
*Red indicates change in total deaths

Cumulative Covid-19 Death Across
the United States

States lift restrictions gradually amid fears of new variant
States are loosening their coronavirus restrictions on restaurants and other businesses because of improved infection and hospitalization numbers but are moving gradually and cautiously, in part because of the more contagious variant taking hold in the U.S. While the easing could cause case rates to rise, health experts say it can work if done in a measured way and if the public remains vigilant about masks and social distancing.

As Michigan's coronavirus rate dropped to the nation's fifth-lowest over the last two weeks, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said bars and restaurants can welcome indoor customers next week for the first time in 2 1/2 months. But they will be under a 10 p.m. curfew and will be limited to 25% of capacity, or half of what was allowed the last time she loosened their restrictions, in June.

Chicago and surrounding suburbs allowed indoor dining over the weekend for the first time since October. Major cultural attractions including the Field Museum and Shedd Aquarium reopened with crowd limits.

Washington, D.C., also recently ended its monthlong ban on indoor dining, but one in New York City remains in effect for now, although Gov. Andrew Cuomo will soon be announcing a reopening plan for restaurants.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom this week lifted stay-at-home orders he imposed last month when hospitals were so overwhelmed with virus patients that they were on the verge of rationing lifesaving care. Restaurants and places of worship will be able to operate outdoors, and many stores will be able to have more shoppers inside.

In Oregon, Gov. Kate Brown announced that some indoor operations such as gyms and movie theaters can reopen Friday with limited capacity. Indoor dining is still banned in the hardest-hit counties.

Not all places are taking as cautious an approach. After North Dakota dropped to the nation's second-lowest case rate, Republican Gov. Doug Burgum this month not only relaxed limits on the number of people who can gather at restaurants and bars but also allowed a statewide mask mandate to expire last week. abcnews.com

Best News in Weeks - But Now We've Got the Super Bowl Party Spreaders
L.A. County is 'decisively on its way out of its third surge of the pandemic, its deadliest yet.'
L.A. County’s hospitals are still under great strain, with nearly three times as many COVID-19 patients as it did during the peak of the summer wave. The state has opened up two surge hospitals — in Sun Valley and Hawaiian Gardens — that have been used to relieve the strain on other facilities.

And conditions could still worsen, given the rise of mutant variants of the coronavirus circulating in California, one of which is believed to be more contagious and deadlier than the conventional variety.

There were no hospitals in a declared state of internal disaster, a change from weeks ago. No hospitals have been forced to formally declare to county officials they were providing “crisis standards of care,” which includes being so overwhelmed that doctors would be forced to decide which patients would receive the most aggressive lifesaving treatment and which patients would receive only palliative care as they died.

“The case numbers are down. The hospitalizations are down,” Ghaly said Tuesday. To be sure, it will take time for the number of people in hospitals to decline. “But [the numbers] are absolutely heading in the right direction.” latimes.com

Shopkick survey of 20,000 consumers

Consumers expect health and safety to remain top-of-mind for retailers
Despite Vaccinations, Americans Still Expect Safety Precautions When Shopping In-store
With many Americans (44 percent) planning not to receive the vaccine, consumers say vaccinations will hardly change their current shopping behaviors. In fact, nearly all consumers (96 percent) say they will continue to take personal safety precautions while shopping, and of those who have already received the vaccine, less than half (48 percent) report feeling more comfortable shopping in-store now.

● 44% consumers do not plan to get the vaccine.
● Millennials are the least confident in the vaccine
● Vaccinations do not mean consumers will flood back indoors
● Personal health and safety habits are here to stay
● Consumers expect health and safety to remain top-of-mind for retailers.

Even if a large majority of Americans are vaccinated, 79 percent of consumers expect retailers to continue enforcing health and safety restrictions, such as requiring protective face coverings for shoppers and employees (89 percent), offering disinfectants for shoppers (86 percent), enforcing 6-feet-social distancing (80 percent), keeping plexiglass barriers at checkout (74 percent), and limiting the number of shoppers allowed inside (62 percent). According to 62 percent of respondents, enforcing these guidelines will influence where they choose to shop. shopkick.com

New versions of the novel coronavirus are spreading across the globe

Researchers fear the new lineages may spread more easily —and one may be more deadly.

A fast-spreading variant, known as B.1.1.7, was identified in December in the U.K., leading to travel restrictions and a widespread lockdown there. Since then, the U.K. variant has been detected in China and other countries, as well as in Colorado, California and Florida.

Now there’s preliminary evidence suggesting that the variant could lead to more deaths. Britain’s top scientific adviser said preliminary studies show that the U.K. variant might be 30% to 40% deadlier than previous variants.

The variant that was first identified in London and the South East—may be associated with a higher degree of mortality,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Friday.

They found the new variant to be more transmissible than previous variants.

Both Pfizer and Moderna have stated that their vaccines works against the mutations identified in the variants in the U.K. and South Africa. wsj.com

10,000 stores are expected to close in 2021, as pandemic continues to pummel retailers
10,000 closures would represent a 14% uptick from 2020 levels, Coresight Research said in a report released Thursday. Coresight also forecasts that retailers will announce 4,000 store openings in 2021, driven by growth from grocery discounters and dollar store chains.

As of Jan. 22, retailers in the U.S. have already announced 1,678 closures. cnbc.com

Has the Pandemic Transformed the Office Forever?
Companies are figuring out how to balance what appears to be a lasting shift toward remote work with the value of the physical workplace.

Twenty-seven per cent of the American workforce will be remote in 2021. About twenty million workers have moved—many of them out of major cities—or are planning to. Office vacancies continue to rise: CBRE, recently estimated a San Francisco vacancy rate of more than sixteen per cent, the highest on record.

The surveys turned up a number of “pain points,” including a lack of spontaneous interactions with colleagues, difficulty integrating new hires into company culture remotely, Zoom fatigue, and ergonomically incorrect seating. But the sorest was felt by R/GA staff who had young children. For a stressed-out parent, W.F.H. can quickly turn into W.T.F.! newyorker.com

Nearly a year into the pandemic, employers brace for coronavirus lawsuits, attorneys say

"There's no vaccine for the new wave of litigation," according to a Dorsey & Whitney LLP attorney.

"There's no vaccine for the new wave of litigation," Lang said; "It's growing by leaps and bounds for negligence lawsuits brought on behalf of people who claim they contracted the disease in the course of their employment, or as patrons in all kinds of businesses." The panel discussed the basis of these claims and what businesses can do to guard against liability.

It looked like there could have been a federal liability shield on the table with the most recently passed coronavirus relief bill, but ultimately, it was not included, Shevon D.B. Rockett, partner at Dorsey said. "Many states haven't adapted their own liability shields either through executive orders or through statutes and laws," Rockett said; therefore, state liability shields vary tremendously.

Insurance coverage: hrdive.com

Fauci Says Double Masks
Why You Should Double-Mask To Prevent COVID-19 (And How To Do It)
As more contagious coronavirus variants emerge, health experts, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, say it’s probably a good idea to start doubling up on your face masks. huffpost.com

Biden Tells OSHA - Keep Workers Safe
What Will A Federal OSHA COVID Emergency Temporary Standard Likely Require?
As predicted following Joe Biden’s election as President of the United States, the new administration announced last week that it has directed the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to consider whether emergency temporary standards concerning the COVID-19 pandemic are necessary. The White House asked OSHA to issue any such standards by March 15. If OSHA finds that the workers “are in grave danger due to exposure to toxic substances or agents…and that an emergency standard is needed to protect them, ” the agency can adopt a temporary standard that will be effective immediately and won’t require many of the procedural requirements needed for a permanent standard. Any adopted temporary standard will be in place for at least six months and may eventually become permanent. Given the administration’s focus on keeping workers safe during the remainder of the pandemic (and beyond) and the streamlined procedural process for emergency temporary OSHA standards, you should begin to prepare now for the mandates that OSHA will include in a temporary COVID-19 standard. jdsupra.com

NY AG says state undercounted nursing home COVID-19 deaths by up to 50%

NYC Vaccine Hubs Reopen After Supply-Forced Closure; Indoor Dining Update Looms

Bill Gates calls for ‘mega testing’ and global disease alert system to prevent the next pandemic

Cough, fatigue, sore throat 'more common' with new UK variant