US: 29.7M Cases - 538K Dead - 20.3M Recovered
Worldwide: Over 117M Cases - 2.6M Dead - 93M Recovered

Former Senior Loss Prevention Executive
Know of any fallen LP exec? Let's remember & recognize.

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 279  
Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 266
*Red indicates change in total deaths

“We are not driving this tiger, we’re riding it."
World on brink of fourth wave of coronavirus
A year after the frightening beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the world stands on the brink of a fourth wave of infection as nations race to vaccinate their populations and stave off a new surge in hospitalizations and deaths.

Total reported cases rose across the globe in the last week of February after six weeks of decline, driven in part by new, more virulent variants that transmit between people at startlingly higher rates than the initial strains out of Wuhan, China, and northern Italy.

"This is disappointing, but not surprising,” World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters last week. “This is a global crisis that requires a consistent and coordinated global response.”

The United States recorded about 66,000 new cases a day over the last week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), down 73 percent from the apex reached in early January and similar to levels of transmission from October. But the precipitous decline of late January and early February has plateaued in recent days, raising fears that a new wave is just around the corner.

“We could not have made a more wonderful environment for this virus to take off than we have right now,” said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Prevention at the University of Minnesota. “We are not driving this tiger, we’re riding it. And the first time we may be able to drive it is with widespread use of the vaccine, and we’re not there yet.” thehill.com

UK Variant Florida SUPER-SPREADER Coming
Florida is the UK Variant's Epic Center - #1 Highest Rate of Infection in U.S.
Thousands of 20-year-olds Hitting Florida's Party Scene

Spring breakers could spell ‘perfect storm’ for COVID-19 spread, expert warns
“It’s the perfect storm,” Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told CNN.

Hotez said he feared that college kids hitting the party scene in Florida could accelerate the spread of the highly-contagious UK variant, which is known as B.1.1.7.

“You’ve got the B.1.1.7 variant accelerating in Florida. You’ve got all these 20-year-old kids,” he said.

Hotez noted that Florida currently has the highest rate in the nation of the UK variant, which is believed to be as much as 74 percent transmissible as the original strain.

“So this is not the time to have a superspreader event for that UK variant, which is what spring break in Florida would look like,” Hotez said. nypost.com

The Virus Spread Where Restaurants Reopened or Mask Mandates Were Absent
C.D.C. researchers found that coronavirus infections and death rates rose in U.S. counties permitting in-person dining or not requiring masks.

Even as officials in Texas and Mississippi lifted statewide mask mandates, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday offered fresh evidence of the importance of face coverings, reporting that mask-wearing mandates were linked to fewer infections with the coronavirus and Covid-19 deaths in counties across the United States.

Federal researchers also found that counties opening restaurants for on-premises dining — indoors or outdoors — saw a rise in daily infections about six weeks later, and an increase in Covid-19 death rates about two months later. nytimes.com

Best Way to Get Your Employee Population Back to Work Safely & Quickly
Having Trouble Getting the Covid Vaccine? Your Company Might Soon Offer It.

Drugmakers, food companies and airlines join the race for scarce doses, offering Covid-19 inoculations at work

Large employers, from the meatpacking industry to airlines and pharmaceutical companies, are getting permission from public-health officials to administer Covid-19 vaccines, hoping to speed up inoculations of their employees.

Vaccination in the workplace helps remove transit and time-off challenges for hourly workers, and it does efficiently get doses to those in high-risk positions, such as those where social distancing isn’t possible. It also highlights a problem with classifying entire sectors as essential, when workers’ roles, on-the-job risks and health conditions vary widely, she said.

“Employers have found this is the best way to get your population back to work as safely as possible,” wsj.com

Everybody Wants You To - But Nobody is Going to Force You
As more states lift mandates, most major retailers still require face masks
- H-E-B partners & vendors required. Urges customers to wear masks
- Walgreens to gently remind customers masks requirement but not stop customers.
- CVS Health to coninue to require associates and stores are directed to avoid escalated confrontations with noncompliant customers and to instead help them complete their purchases as quickly as possible."
- Target requiring masks however makes an exception for those with underlying medical conditions and young children.
- Aldi to require masks of customers and associates.
- Albertsons to require masks
- Kroger to require masks
- Home Depot to require masks
- Costco, Trader Joe's, Walmart and Whole Foods did not respond to requests for comment. cbsnews.com

CDC: Some Gatherings Okay for Fully Vaccinated People - Mask Still Required
CDC releases highly anticipated guidance for fully vaccinated people
New guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 can safely visit with other vaccinated people and small groups of unvaccinated people in some circumstances, but there are still important safety precautions needed. The guidelines will be announced at the White House COVID-19 Response Team briefing on Monday.

The CDC defines people who are fully vaccinated as those who are two weeks past their second dose of the Moderna and Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine or two weeks past a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

People who are vaccinated are protected and there is growing evidence that they don't spread Covid-19, but scientists are still trying to understand how long vaccine protection lasts.

In addition, fully vaccinated people should continue basic safety precautions, including: wearing a mask that fits well and keeping physical distance in public; avoiding medium- and large-sized crowds; avoiding poorly ventilated public spaces; washing hands frequently; and getting tested for Covid-19 if they feel sick. cnn.com

16 States Drop Masks
Which states have dropped mask mandates and why
Five states -- Texas, Mississippi, Iowa, Montana and North Dakota -- have ended, or soon will end, statewide mask mandates, despite the looming threat of COVID-19 and highly transmissible variants.

They're joining 11 other states -- Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Tennessee -- that never required face coverings statewide. Alabama will lift its mandate beginning on April 9.

"Cases in the country are leveling off at rates just on the cusp of potential to resurge," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said at a Wednesday briefing on the reopenings. She added the COVID-19 variant that first emerged in the UK, known as B.1.1.7, "looms ready to hijack our successes to date."  yahoo.com

CA: 40% of Vaccines Will Go To Underserved Communities
States Moving to Flooding Disadvantaged Communities With Vaccinations

California thinks it can stop COVID by flooding poor areas with vaccine. Will it work?

24 Other States to Follow This Strategy

Months into a vaccine rollout that has been stymied by shortages and marred by persistent inequities, California is now going all in on a new strategy: flooding those communities hardest hit by COVID-19 with doses.

Officials say they hope the radical shift unveiled this week will not only slow the spread of the disease and tackle glaring inequities in who is receiving vaccines, but also speed up reopening of the economy by inoculating essential workers who are putting themselves at greater risk.

Under the new approach, the state will now provide 40% of its available supplies to underserved areas, such as in South L.A., the Eastside, Santa Ana and the heavily Latino communities, places that have experienced a disproportionate share of the pandemic’s pain, yet still lag behind more affluent neighborhoods when it comes to getting vaccines.

The adoption of a vaccine distribution strategy that explicitly favors disadvantaged communities puts California in rare but growing company. To date, only four states — Colorado, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Tennessee — have committed to dispatching larger or earlier vaccine shipments to areas where people with lower income and less education live.

Twelve more states have said they would do so but have not publicly committed to specific targets. latimes.com

It'll Take Years to Resolve All the Lawsuits
The Wave of COVID-19-Related Litigation for Retailers is Looking Like a Tsunami
Across the country, more than 1,300 employment lawsuits relating to COVID-19 have been filed, with the number increasing daily. Most of this litigation is clustered in California, New Jersey, and Florida, where employees generally find laws, courts, and juries friendlier to plaintiffs and their individual or classwide claims.

The COVID-19-related employment claims include allegations of noncompliance with new and confusing workplace requirements, violations of wage and hour laws, and discrimination and failure to accommodate where employees allege fear of COVID-19 or inability to wear masks. These claims are usually brought by individual employees and include wrongful termination claims, discrimination cases related to workplace conduct, and racial discrimination cases, all based on or in some way related to COVID-19.

Perhaps the most troublesome and potentially financially costly claims arising out of COVID-19-related requirements are wage- and hour-related claims. Employees are alleging they're owed wages for time spent filling out a pre-screening questionnaire at home or standing in line waiting to be health-screened coming into work. As government requirements evolve and vaccines become more available, the compensability of time spent getting tested or vaccinated will also be at issue. Similarly, employees are seeking reimbursement for the use of not only internet and cell phone services at home while working remotely, but also for desks, chairs, equipment, and even rent and mortgages.

Workplace safety is another area of concern for class and systemic litigation, and is also ripe for whistleblower claims. On Jan. 29, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued new employer guidance on workplace safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. mytotalretail.com

Hate Crimes Happening in Stores Across America

1,990 Hate Crimes & 246 Assaults Logged in 10 Months in U.S.

Anti-Asian hate crimes and harassment rise to historic levels during COVID-19 pandemic
In a survey of police departments in 16 major U.S. cities found a total of 122 anti-Asian hate crimes last year — a 149% increase from the 49 in 2019. Stop AAPI Hate, a tracker supported by Asian American advocacy groups, logged 1,990 anti-Asian harassment incidents and 246 assault cases in the 10 months after it launch in March 2020.

The totals climbed in 15 of the 16 cities, with New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Seattle and San Jose experiencing the most significant increases and their highest tallies in at least five years.

Last March, 34-year-old Bawi Cung was grocery shopping at a Sam’s Club in Midland, Texas, when a man grabbed a knife from a nearby rack. Cung was slashed on his face, his 3-year-old was stabbed in the back, and his 6-year-old was stabbed in the face. A Sam’s Club employee intervened, tackling the suspect, 19-year-old Jose Gomez, who was indicted on hate crime and attempted murder charges and is awaiting trial.

This January at a Taco Bell, she was refilling her cup at the soda dispenser when a man approached her. “The Oriental touched the dispenser!” he yelled. “Stop her! She started this whole thing!” latimes.com

DOJ Focusing Nationwide on the Problem
Readout of The Department of Justice’s Efforts to Combat Hate Crimes Against Asian American and Pacific Island Communities
The Department of Justice on Friday last week., held a listening session with more than a dozen Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community groups as part of its continuing efforts to deter hate crimes and other unlawful acts against the AAPI community.

Today’s listening session follows a meeting Carlin had earlier this week with key U.S. Attorneys in Districts around the country with significant AAPI populations in seven cities across the U.S. Carlin requested feedback from each District’s work on AAPI-related hate crimes and incidents including cases trends, community outreach efforts and data collection. The meeting was also attended by senior leaders of the Department’s Civil Rights Division, Executive Office for the U.S. Attorneys and FBI Headquarters. justice.gov
 

NYC: 740,000 Ill - 30,000 Died - Hundreds of Thousands Furloughed - In 1 City
Covid-19 Changed New York City: A Story of Six Lives
New York City ground to a halt one year ago as the coronavirus raced through homes and families, upending the lives of its eight million residents

Under orders from Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio, businesses closed, offices emptied and schools went to fully remote learning. Many of the sick died alone. Hundreds of thousands of people were furloughed or lost their jobs.

About 740,000 city residents had confirmed or probable cases of Covid-19 as of Thursday, according to city health department data, and about 30,000 had died. While state and city officials have slowly eased restrictions and vaccinations have increased, many people still wonder when normal life will return. wsj.com

Furor in Rochester After Police Pepper-Spray Mother With Toddler
A woman accused of shoplifting was sprayed with a chemical irritant and knocked to the ground in front of her daughter, the latest altercation between the police and Black residents.

A Rochester, N.Y., police officer tackled and used pepper spray on a woman who had been accused of shoplifting and was with her young daughter last month, according to police body-camera videos of the episode that were released on Friday.

It was the latest in a series of violent altercations between officers and Black residents that have heightened racial tensions in the city.

The videos of the woman’s arrest threatened to further tarnish the reputation of the police department that is already under fire for handcuffing and using a chemical irritant on a 9-year-old girl in January and for the death last year of Daniel Prude, a Black man who died after officers put a hood over his head and pressed his head to the pavement.

“It feels like our officers are out of control,” Mary Lupien, a City Council member, said in an interview.

A bystander’s video of the woman's arrest, on Feb. 22, first appeared on Facebook the day it happened. But on Friday, the police released the officer’s body-camera footage and a video from a nearby security camera in response to demands from the city’s Police Accountability Board, which reviews misconduct.

Cynthia Herriott-Sullivan, Rochester’s interim chief of police, said at a news conference on Friday that the episode was under investigation, but that it appeared the officers had followed department policies. The police, she said, “are authorized to the extent necessary to use certain tactics to get a person under control.”

The woman was charged with trespassing, the chief said.

The police chief’s efforts to play down the woman’s arrest rang hollow for some Rochester residents. The city was rocked by protests last summer after the circumstances of Mr. Prude’s death became public. That unrest returned briefly last week, when a grand jury declined to charge the officers in Mr. Prude’s death after an investigation by the attorney general. nytimes.com

Those fever scanners that everyone is using to fight COVID can be wildly inaccurate, researchers find
A flood of thermal scanners hit the market last year with promises to detect the signs of possible infection. But many of the devices use software that can make a feverish person appear perfectly well.

Temperature-scanning devices that check for fevers in schools, workplaces and public venues across the United States distort the results in a way that could overlook the telltale sign of a coronavirus infection, according to new research that casts doubt on the systems’ effectiveness in helping people resume normal life.

The thermal cameras and “temperature tablet” kiosks have been heralded as a critical first line of defense against new pandemic outbreaks. But in a new study of the scanners by the surveillance research organization IPVM, researchers warn that the tools are dangerously ineffective, raising the risk that infected people could be waved through medical screening checkpoints and go on to spread the virus unchecked.

On Thursday night, shortly after The Washington Post discussed the research findings with the Food and Drug Administration, the agency issued a public alert warning that improper use of the devices could lead to inaccurate measurements and “present potentially serious public health risks.” washingtonpost.com

Retail Industry Has Been Front & Center Throughout Crisis
NRF Statement on Senate Passage of $1.9 Trillion COVID-19 Relief Bill
“Ensuring that the American people are given the opportunity to quickly and safely get vaccinated against COVID-19 is the most critical component of the legislation passed today by the Senate. We encourage the House to move quickly so that the President can sign this signature piece of legislation into law. The retail industry has been front and center throughout this crisis and remains engaged by providing vaccines to employees and consumers in communities they serve across the country. While this legislation adds to the historic and unprecedented level of fiscal stimulus enacted during the past year, we continue to encourage targeted and temporary fiscal support for those families, small businesses and job creators hardest hit by the pandemic.” nrf.com

Senate Democrats Pass $1.9 Trillion Covid-19 Relief Plan
Legislation providing jobless benefits and direct payments now returns to the House Tuesday for approval before it is sent to President Biden. The legislation would provide $300 in weekly unemployment benefits through Sept. 6, send $1,400 direct payments to many Americans, direct $350 billion to state and local governments, fund vaccine distribution and expand the child tax credit, among other aid. wsj.com

Editor's Note: Retail economists credit the last $600 payment for delivering a strong January. So $1,400 coming right when summer hits may deliver a strong summer. Just a thought - Gus Downing

$1,400 Stimulus Checks could go out in a matter of days after the American Rescue Plan is signed into law

McKinsey and Company
The Future of Work After COVID-19
The pandemic pushed companies and consumers to rapidly adopt new behaviors that are likely to stick, changing the trajectory of three groups of trends. We consequently see sharp discontinuity between their impact on labor markets before and after the pandemic.

Remote work and virtual meetings are likely to continue, albeit less intensely than at the pandemic’s peak

Perhaps the most obvious impact of COVID-19 on the labor force is the dramatic increase in employees working remotely. To determine how extensively remote work might persist after the pandemic, we analyzed its potential across more than 2,000 tasks used in some 800 occupations in the eight focus countries. Considering only remote work that can be done without a loss of productivity, we find that about 20 to 25 percent of the workforces in advanced economies could work from home between three and five days a week. This represents four to five times more remote work than before the pandemic and could prompt a large change in the geography of work, as individuals and companies shift out of large cities into suburbs and small cities.

E-commerce hs grown two to five times faster than before the pandemic.

COVID-19 may propel faster adoption of automation and AI, especially in work arenas with high physical proximity

As many as 25 percent more workers may need to switch occupations than before the pandemic mckinsey.com

Job Cuts - Some Store Closures - Big Promotions Coming
Grocery stores' pandemic boom is over
Now companies say the pandemic-time boom is over. Kroger (KR), the largest supermarket chain in this country, said Thursday that it expects comparable sales, or sales at stores open for at least one year, to decline by 3% to 5% this year. Sales increased 14.1% in 2020.

Other grocers expect sales slowdowns from a year ago as well. Discount grocer Grocery Outlet (GO) said Tuesday that comparable sales in the first quarter of 2021 are likely to decline into the high-single digits. They rose 12.7% last year.

In particular, independent and smaller chains got a boost from Covid-19 shopping changes, but store closures may be on the horizon for them once that trend ends.

Many grocers went on a hiring spree in 2020, staffing up to keep up demand. But companies will readjust their staffing levels as sales decline, said Michael Baker, analyst at D.A. Davidson. This may mean fewer hours for some workers and even layoffs at some stores. And companies may speed up their investments in automation to curb labor costs.

Overall, grocery sales grew 11% last year but will drop 5% this year, UBS analyst Michael Lasser estimated in a January research report. That would be the first annual decline in 20 years, he noted. cnn.com

Macy's shakes up leadership, nixes COO role - Closing Mag Mile Store in Chicago

Charming Charlie is coming back - Opened 5 - Plans 14 more

Sprouts Farmers Market to open 20 new stores in 2021 - 10 in FL.


Quarterly Results
BJ's Wholesales Q4 comp's up 15.9%, digital sales up 168%, net sales up 13.7%, FY 2020 comp's up 21.3%, net sales up 17.1%,

Michael's Q4 comp's up 12.9%, net sales up 12%, FY 2020 comp's up 4.8%, net sales up 4%

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp Q4 comp's up 5.1%, sales up 7.9%, FY 2020 comp's up 12.7%, net sales up 22.5%