US: 31.6M Cases - 572.8K Dead - 24.2M Recovered
Worldwide: 133.8M Cases - 2.9M Dead - 107.9M Recovered

Former Senior Loss Prevention Executive
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Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 279  
Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 282
*Red indicates change in total deaths

New Variant Becomes Most Common Infection
Most U.S. infections now caused by a contagious virus variant, the C.D.C. says.
A highly infectious variant of the coronavirus that was first identified in Britain has now become the most common source of new infections in the United States, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday — a worrisome development that comes as officials and scientists warn of a possible fourth virus surge.

Federal health officials said in January that the B.1.1.7 variant, which began surging in Britain in December and has since slammed Europe, could become the dominant source of coronavirus infections in the United States, leading to a wrenching increase in cases and deaths.

While new cases, hospitalizations and deaths have declined from their peaks in January, new infections have increased after plateauing. The average number of new cases has reached nearly 65,000 a day, as of Tuesday, concentrated mostly in metro areas in Michigan as well as the New York City region. That’s up 19 percent from the figure two weeks ago.

The C.D.C. director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, who last week warned that she felt a recurring sense of “impending doom,” said on Wednesday that 52 of the agency’s 64 jurisdictions — which include states, some major cities and territories — are now reporting cases of “variants of concern,” including B.1.1.7. nytimes.com

New Variant Impacting Jobs Market
Workers file 744,000 new jobless claims in troubling sign for COVID recovery
New filings have ticked up for two consecutive weeks after dropping below the pre-coronavirus record of 695,000 in mid-March.

“The biggest reason to temper optimism is a negative turn in the course of the pandemic, including new variants” of the coronavirus, Bloomberg economist Eliza Winger said.

The latest US Department of Labor data came a week after a blowout jobs report that showed the economy adding 916,000 jobs in March. nypost.com

Checking COVID Documents at the Door?
UK retailers join pubs and clubs in rejecting Covid-status certificates
Retailers have joined pubs and clubs in rejecting Covid status certificates, as the prime minister’s plan faced growing opposition from business and parliament.

As fashion boutiques, toy shops and other “nonessential” retailers prepare to reopen on high streets next week, the British Retail Consortium (BRC), which represents thousands of retailers including major chains such as John Lewis and Marks & Spencer, and the New West End Company, which speaks for 600 businesses in central London’s main shopping district, have warned that checking documents at the door would not work.

The certificates are intended to mark out people who had a low risk of passing on infection by indicating those who had received a Covid vaccine, a recent negative test result, or antibodies from a natural infection within the last 180 days.

They are similar to the vaccine passports which have been mooted to enable international travel to restart. theguardian.com

UK's Light at the End of the Tunnel?
Retail employers “hiring at close to pre-Covid pace” as lockdown exit nears
Retailers are starting to recruit staff at near pre-Covid levels as non-essential shops in England and Wales prepare to exit lockdown and reopen, new research suggests.

Retail vacancies have increased to within 14 per cent of their pre-pandemic levels, according to jobs site Indeed. Job availabilities in the retail sector plunged during the first nationwide lockdown in spring last year, but have bounced back following the road map to recovery, the report said. retailgazette.co.uk

U.K. Limits AstraZeneca Covid Vaccine to Over-30s Amid Blood-Clot Concerns


Lockdown Fatigue Overwhelms Canada

Ontario, Canada announces stay-at-home order, closes most retail stores as COVID cases rise
The Canadian province of Ontario will begin a four week-long stay-at-home order and close in-store shopping for non-essential retailers as of Thursday, Premier Doug Ford said on Wednesday, as the province battles a surge of COVID-19 cases. The move follows last week’s shuttering of all indoor and outdoor dining across Canada’s most populous province. Hospitals in the province are becoming increasingly stretched, with the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units at the highest point since the pandemic began, according to provincial data.  nationalpost.com

Anger and Frustration as New Lockdowns Expected to Have Devastating Impact on Canadian Businesses
Recent increased lockdown measures and COVID-19 restrictions across different provinces will have a devastating impact on Canadian businesses, according to many experts. And there is growing anger and frustration as many businesses hang by a thread with the threat of closure becoming an increasing reality.

One out of 10 restaurants have already closed permanently in Canada with the exception of Atlantic Canada. retail-insider.com

Alberta, Canada: Businesses react to Alberta’s new restrictions
 

NY Times Re-Runs France's Ikea Story - Hot Topic in Media Outlets

Ikea's Security Exec. Runs Systemic Espionage Surveillance System on Employees, Union & Customers

A 'System of Espionage' Reigned at Ikea, a French Prosecutor Charges
The emails surfaced on a USB stick that just mysteriously appeared from an unidentified deliveryman. It held an explosive trove: a cache of startling emails detailing an intricate effort by Ikea executives in France to dig up information on employees, job applicants and even customers.

“Tell me if these people are known to the police,” read one executive’s message to a private investigator, seeking illicit background checks on hundreds of Ikea job applicants.

“A model worker has become a radical employee representative overnight,” read another. “We need to find out why.”

A decade after those emails surfaced, they are at the center of a criminal trial that has riveted public attention in France. Prosecutors are accusing the French arm of Ikea, the Swedish home furnishings giant, and some of its former executives of engineering a “system of espionage” from 2009 to 2012.

The alleged snooping was used to investigate employees and union organizers, check up on workers on medical leave and size up customers seeking refunds for botched orders. A former military operative was hired to execute some of the more clandestine operations.

The case stoked outrage in 2012 after the emails were leaked to the French news media, and Ikea promptly fired several executives in its French unit, including its chief executive.

Paméla Tabardel, the deputy public prosecutor of Versailles, near Ikea France’s headquarters in Plaisir, is seeking a fine of 2 million euros ($2.35 million) against Ikea France, prison terms of at least a year for two former company officials and a private investigator, and fines for some store managers and police officers. In all, 15 people are charged. A verdict from a panel of judges is scheduled for June 15.

Ikea’s lawyer, Emmanuel Daoud, denied that systemwide surveillance had been carried out at Ikea’s stores in France, more than two dozen at the time, and demanded that the charges against the company be dropped. He argued that any privacy violations had been the work of a single person, Jean-François Paris, the French unit’s head of risk management (Security) who Mr. Daoud said had acted “alone” without the knowledge of top Ikea executives.

Mr. Paris testified that Ikea France executives had been aware of and supported the activity. “This was not a personal step, but a system put in place at the request of the management of Ikea,” he said, accusing the company of “cowardice” for pinning the blame on him. nytimes.com

People Are Back and Even Stronger Online
The digital evolution is moving even faster

Interesting Footnote About People Trends
Last March and April a number of executives mentioned how they saw a slight drop in business email openings and a huge increase in their social media impressions.

With LinkedIn driving increases as much as 400% in some groups, profiles, and postings while business emails saw a slight decrease. But nothing to compare to the social media increases.

Quite logical response when you consider furloughing millions and closing thousands of stores. With no need and maybe even some hostility, people may have shunned corporate emails and significantly increased their social media engagement for a number of reasons. Find a job, stay connected, talk with friends and colleagues, network, and keep tabs on what's going on. Fact is we saw the same swing in numbers.

However now, business emails engagement has picked right back up and even stronger than pre-pandemic numbers by ten to twenty percent and even stretched to as high as twenty-five percent.

And while social media impressions have slightly plateaued they're still stronger then their per-pandemic numbers, as well.

So while everyone is reporting this strong online usage and growth on the consumer side the same holds true on the business side for emails and social media usage and growth.

Just our observations. - Gus Downing

Retailer Fights COVID & Gives Back to the Community
Raley’s Releases First-Ever Impact Report

Report details the company’s extensive initiatives to positively impact their people, communities and planet

As detailed in the report, Raley’s efforts and initiatives in 2020 were aimed at nourishing their purpose, people, communities and the planet. Highlights of Raley’s inaugural Impact Report include:

Responding to COVID-19:

● Invested more than $60 million in enhanced safety protections.
● Hired and trained over 9,000 new team members.
● Provided more than $15 million to team members through appreciation pay and bonuses.
● Donated $200,000 to purchase devices and internet access to allow students in low-income districts

Community Investment:

● Raised over $9 million, the equivalent of 6,482,118 meals, for food banks
● Donated over $1 million in funds to causes and organizations to empower current and future generations
● Issued $700,000 in Extra Credit grants to 48 schools for programs that promote nutrition education

Sustainable and Responsible Operations:

● Diverted over 70% of all waste companywide from landfills.
● Donated 4.8 million pounds of food via Raley’s food rescue program.
● Continued commitment to and focus on ethical supply chain practices. businesswire.com

Are Your Stores Ready?
Forecasters expect another overactive hurricane season with 17 named storms
After last year's record-breaking hurricane season, forecasters are expecting another overactive season. Colorado State University (CSU) released its 2021 Atlantic hurricane season forecast on Thursday morning and is predicting another above-average season this year.

CSU is calling for 17 named storms, 8 hurricanes and 4 major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher). Each of these numbers is above the typical season average of 12 named storms, 6 hurricanes, and 3 major hurricanes. cnn.com

Online deliveries from EU divebomb 50% as Brexit stops shoppers buying abroad
Online deliveries from the EU to the UK have divebombed by more than 50 per cent since January as Brexit regulations stop shoppers from buying abroad. In the first quarter of 2021 ecommerce deliveries from across the channel dropped by more than a half compared to the final quarter of 2020, according to new research from shipping platform Sendcloud.

Separate research from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) supported Sendcloud’s figures, showing that the value of imports from the EU dropped by £6.6 billion in January, the biggest fall on record. chargedretail.co.uk

A large chunk of the retail investing crowd got their start during the pandemic, Schwab survey shows