Current Events in September 2020

Amazon has raised bar after bar in the online shopping world, but now it’s raising the bar in the fashion industry. 

On Tuesday, the global retailer announced that it has teamed up with fashion and beauty brands to launch Luxury Stores, a new shopping experience offering both established and emerging fashion and beauty lines viewable in 360-degree detail.

Oscar de la Renta has been tapped as the first brand to be featured. The eponymous fashion house will show off its Pre-Fall and Fall/Winter 2020 collections, inclusive of ready-to-wear, handbags, jewelry, accessories, and a new perfume, with children's wear to follow.

Upping the game with new technology

The Luxury Stores app debuts with a technology innovation that will certainly benefit clothing sellers. “View in 360” allows customers to explore styles in 360-degree detail to better visualize fit, which Amazon hopes will make shopping for luxury more alluring and as close to an in-store experience as possible. 

“With collections sold directly from the participating brands as a ‘store within a store’ experience, brands independently make decisions regarding their inventory, selection, and pricing – and Amazon offers the merchandising tools for brands to create and personalize content in each of their unique brand voices,” the company said in a news release. 

Amazon sensed change in the fashion world

Seeing a raft of high-end retailers -- Ann Taylor, Neiman Marcus, Lord & Taylor, et al -- go out of business in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Amazon has to be smelling an opportunity, particularly in the realm of distribution.

Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette recently spoke with CNBC about the opportunity he saw in the luxury apparel space, given the spate of high-end stores going belly-up and leaving customers waiting to be had. 

“Bloomingdale’s is having a moment,” he said about Macy’s higher-end department store banner. “We have brands in our arsenal that we didn’t have before that are looking for additional distribution.” 

For the time being, Luxury Stores is available in the Amazon app by invitation only. Eligible U.S. Prime members have been the first to be invited to experience Luxury Stores. Prime members who have not yet received an invitation via email can request one by visiting the company’s website here.

Gaming hardware manufacturing company Razer accidentally leaked the data of as many as 100,000 customers, according to security researcher Bob Diachenko. 

Diachenko said in a report that the company misconfigured one of its Elasticsearch servers, leaving information available to the public and indexed by public search engines since August 18. The information leaked included customers’ full names, emails, phone numbers, and shipping addresses. 

It took Razer several weeks to respond to Diachenko, but the company finally responded and said it fixed the misconfiguration on September 9. The company claims that passwords and credit card information weren't involved in the leak.

"We would like to thank you, sincerely apologize for the lapse and have taken all necessary steps to fix the issue as well as conduct a thorough review of our IT security and systems," the company told Diachenko. "We remain committed to ensure the digital safety and security of all our customers."

Watch for suspicious emails

Improperly accessed information could be used by scammers to carry out phishing attempts, so Diachenko urges gamers to “be on the lookout for phishing attempts sent to their phone or email address.” 

“Malicious emails or messages might encourage victims to click on links to fake login pages or download malware onto their device,” he noted. “Razer customers could be at risk of fraud and targeted phishing attacks perpetrated by criminals who might have accessed the data.” 

Razer said customers with any questions about the leak can send a message to DPO@razer.com.

After six months of a “new normal” amid a deadly coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the restaurant industry is still reeling. “Devastated” might not be too strong a word, according to the National Restaurant Association (NRA).

A new NRA survey shows about 100,000 restaurants -- nearly one in six -- have either shut down permanently or closed for the foreseeable future. Nearly 3 million restaurant employees are still out of work.

For consumers worried about the fate of their favorite eateries, the survey results are grim indeed. Despite a rapid shift to take-out and delivery sales, most restaurants say they are still struggling to survive.

Sales were still a third lower in August

Consumer spending at restaurants was well below normal in August with restaurant sales down an average of 34 percent. Together, the nation’s restaurants are projected to lose $240 billion this year.

NRA research estimates that more than 100,000 restaurants will have closed their doors by the end of this year, though it could be worse. The scope of the damage won’t be known until government statistics are released in the months ahead.

Making matters worse, restaurant operators are having to spend more money to serve fewer customers. About 60 percent of operators say costs as a percentage of sales are higher than before the pandemic.

Even those restaurants that are still open and appear to be successfully navigating the pandemic are far from full strength, with staffing levels only 71 percent of what they were in February.

Survival hinges on creativity

"For an industry built on service and hospitality, the last six months have challenged the core understanding of our business," said Tom Bené, CEO of the National Restaurant Association. "Our survival for this comes down to the creativity and entrepreneurship of owners, operators, and employees.”

From independent owners to multi-unit franchise operators, Bene says restaurants are losing money every month, and they continue to struggle to serve their communities and support their employees.

If that sounds grim, NRA says it could get worse in the months ahead. In the early days of the pandemic, Congress provided trillions of dollars in help for both consumers and businesses. That help has expired and, with an election looming, there seems to be little momentum in Washington to extend it.

According to the survey, 40 percent of restaurant operators think it is unlikely their restaurant will still be in business six months from now if there are no additional relief packages from the federal government.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) tally as compiled by Johns Hopkins University. (Previous numbers in parentheses.)

Total U.S. confirmed cases: 6,528,077 (6,513,489)

Total U.S. deaths: 194,203 (194,018)

Total global cases: 29,075,608 (28,850,901)

Total global deaths: 925,284 (921,619)

Woodward: Trump could have saved lives

Journalist Bob Woodward, the author of a new book based on hours of interviews with President Trump, says the president possessed specific knowledge in late January about the coronavirus (COVID-19) but did not warn the American people or mobilize the government to act.

In an interview with NBC’s Today Show, Woodward said Trump got a briefing from his national security adviser in late January that informed him that the coronavirus would come to the U.S. and create a pandemic. Woodward says Trump could have mentioned the threat in his State of the Union address February 4 but didn’t.

“It is one of those shocks, for me, having written about nine presidents, that the president of the United States possessed the specific knowledge that could have saved lives and historians are going to be writing about the lost month of February for tens of years,” Woodward said.

New cases increase in 11 states

The coronavirus picked up momentum in 11 states over the weekend as cases of the virus continued to mount. 

An analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins shows Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and Wyoming all saw their number of new cases go up. Wisconsin posted a 32 percent increase, a record high for the state.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, calls the new data disturbing, telling NBC’s Andrea Mitchell “we’re plateauing at around 40,000 cases a day and the deaths are around 1,000.”

Eli Lilly reports treatment progress

Drug giant Eli Lilly reports that its existing arthritis drug baricitinib, marketed under the brand name Olumiant, reduced recovery time from the coronavirus when taken with Gilead’s remdesivir. The trial showed patients recovered about a day faster than if they took remdesivir alone.

Lilly says it plans to seek emergency authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the drug to be included as a treatment against the virus. Remdesivir gained that status early in the outbreak.

Health experts dealing with the pandemic say treatments against the virus are just as important as an effective vaccine since people who get the virus need protection from its most severe effects.

Study confirms efficacy of social distancing

This might seem fairly obvious, though a number of states don’t seem to have grasped it. A new study confirms that strictly practicing social distancing is associated with a significantly lower risk of getting the coronavirus.

At the same time, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health conclude that using public transportation, visiting a place of worship, or otherwise traveling from the home is associated with a significantly higher likelihood of testing positive.

People reporting frequent public transport use were more than four times as likely to report a history of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection, while those who reported practicing strict outdoor social distancing were just a tenth as likely to report ever being SARS-CoV-2 positive.

Poll shows 70 percent of Americans would take the vaccine

Recent media reports have suggested a majority of Americans would not be willing to be among the first to be inoculated with an approved coronavirus vaccine. But a new poll shows just the opposite.

Researchers from Ohio State University surveyed more than 2,000 Americans and found that seven out of 10 said they would be interested in receiving the vaccine whenever it becomes available. The poll was conducted among 1,000 people in May.

“The interest here is higher than what we typically see for the flu vaccine and other vaccines where there is a strong public health need for widespread protection,” said lead researcher Paul Reiter.

Around the nation

• New York: After its early caseload nearly overwhelmed hospitals, New York has seen its numbers improve every week. Gov. Andrew Cuomo reports that the state’s infection rate, based on the percentage of positive tests, has remained under 1 percent for 37 straight days.

• Florida: Bars in the state can reopen starting today as the number of cases slowly declines. Bars have been closed since late March, except for three weeks in June, after which cases spiked.

• Massachusetts: The state observed a grim milestone over the weekend, reporting more than 9,000 deaths from the coronavirus since the pandemic began. Health department officials reported 267 new cases of COVID-19 and confirmed 14 more people have died from illness linked to the virus as of Sunday.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said over the weekend that “hundreds of thousands” of his company’s COVID-19 vaccine could be distributed before the end of the year if found by the FDA to be safe and effective. 

The results of Pfizer’s late stage clinical trial on the potential vaccine should be available by the end of October, Bourla said during an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” He said his company is “preparing” for a scenario where the vaccine would roll out before the end of the year.  

“I don't know if they have to wait until 2021,” Bourla said, responding to a question on when the public will be able to get a coronavirus vaccine. “Because as I said, our studies, we have a good chance that we will know if the product works by the end of October. Then it’s the regulator's job to issue a license or not.”’

Already started manufacturing

Pfizer, which is working with drug maker BioNTech, has invested $1.5 billion into the development of its vaccine candidate, which contains genetic material called messenger RNA (or mRNA). Scientists hope the vaccine will prompt the immune system to fend off the virus. 

Bourla said his company is preparing for the “likely scenario” that the vaccine will be deemed safe and effective by the FDA and that Pfizer will be cleared to move forward with distribution before the end of the year. 

“I can not say what FDA will do, but I think it's a likely scenario and we are preparing for it,” he said. “We started already manufacturing and have manufactured hundreds of thousands of doses, so just in case we have a good study read out, conclusive, and FDA plus the advisory committee feels comfortable that we will be ready.”

Other companies that are currently in late-stage testing for a vaccine include Moderna and AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca, which paused its trial recently after a study participant experienced an adverse health event, announced over the weekend that it would be resuming its trial. 

Bourla said Pfizer has already started manufacturing its vaccine. 

“We have already manufactured hundreds of thousands of doses, so just in case we have a good study readout, conclusive and FDA, plus the advisory committee feels comfortable, that we will be ready,” Bourla said.

Microsoft will not be purchasing TikTok, the popular video-sharing app. The company says its offer for TikTok’s U.S. operations was rejected by the app’s owner, ByteDance.

“We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users while protecting national security interests,” Microsoft said in a statement. “To do this, we would have made significant changes to ensure the service met the highest standards for security, privacy, online safety, and combatting disinformation, and we made these principles clear in our August statement.”

President Trump had previously threatened to take action to shut down TikTok’s U.S. operations on national security grounds. In early August, he signed an executive order that would ban both TikTok and social media platform WeChat within 45 days.

National security concerns

The Trump administration has expressed concern that the Chinese apps could gather data from U.S. users and share it with the Chinese government.  

“This data threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information – potentially allowing China to track the locations of Federal employees and contractors, build dossiers of personal information and blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage,” the president’s order said.

In late August, Walmartjoined the bidding frenzy to buy TikTok. Retail analysts called it a bold move since it had the potential to expose millions of young consumers to the Walmart brand.

Oracle reported emerges as the winner

In the end, it appears that Oracle may have emerged as the winner. The Wall Street Journal reports that Oracle’s bid for TikTok’s U.S. operations topped Microsoft’s. The Journal’s report cites people knowledgeable about the situation as saying the deal might not be structured as an outright sale.

It’s not clear, however, if that would fly at the White House. Any deal would have to gain the approval of the Trump administration and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.

The Chinese government may be another factor in whether a deal goes through. China appeared hostile to any deal last month when it enacted new export restrictions on the technology that powers the TikTok platform. Those algorithms determine what videos TikTok users see.

CNBC reported late last week that the Chinese government would rather suspend TikTok’s operations in the U.S. than submit to a sale forced by the U.S. government.

TikTok is a short-form, video-sharing app that allows users to create and share 15-second videos on any topic. It is wildly popular with American teenagers and is promoted as a video-sharing social network.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s been difficult for consumers to gather with their friends and loved ones face-to-face. Though gathering virtually has become easier than ever, a new study conducted by researchers from the University of Texas at Austin explored what types of virtual communication left consumers feeling the most connected to the people in their lives. 

The study revealed that phone calls were the best way for consumers to feel connected and bond with their friends or family, more so than any type of texting-based communication. 

“People feel significantly more connected through voice-based media, but they have these fears about awkwardness that are pushing them towards text-based media,” said researcher Amit Kumar. “When it came to actual experience, people reported they did form a significantly stronger bond with their old friend on the phone versus email, and they did not feel more awkward.” 

Building connection

The researchers conducted two experiments to determine what form of communication best served consumers who were trying to stay connected to their family or friends. One experiment paired strangers with various types of communication -- including video chat, phone call, or texting -- and had them ask deeply personal questions to one another. The other experiment gauged how participants felt reconnecting with an old friend via phone call or email, and then had them do just that. 

In both instances, phone calls came out on top in terms of building connection. Whether with a stranger or an old friend, hearing someone’s voice was an integral component of feeling a real connection, which is something that was lost over text or email. 

For both tests, the researchers asked participants about various styles of communication, both in terms of what they preferred and what they believed would produce the best results. All of the participants felt that the form of communication wasn’t as important as what was being said, which made these results all the more surprising. 

Moving forward, the researchers hope that consumers use these findings to feel more connected to their loved ones, especially as in-person gatherings are still limited. 

“We’re being asked to maintain physical distance, but we still need these social ties for our well-being -- even for our health,” said Kumar. 

In a blog post on Monday, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said his company has offset its entire “carbon legacy.” 

The company said it has purchased enough “high-quality carbon offsets” to eliminate the emissions produced by its campuses and data centers prior to becoming carbon neutral in 2007. Pichai said Google’s latest action brings its net carbon footprint to zero as of today.

The executive vowed to have Google running on completely carbon-free energy everywhere, at all times, by 2030. 

"This is our biggest sustainability moonshot yet, with enormous practical and technical complexity. We are the first major company that's set out to do this, and we aim to be the first to achieve it," Pichai said.

Aiming for a carbon-free future 

The CEO noted that Google is the “first major company to make a commitment to operate on 24/7 carbon-free energy.” 

“This is far more challenging than the traditional approach of matching energy usage with renewable energy, but we’re working to get this done by 2030,” Pichai said. 

Google also announced that it will bring five gigawatts worth of carbon-free energy to its key manufacturing regions by 2030. The move should help hundreds of cities shift toward greener power. 

The company is also helping commercial building and data center owners use artificial intelligence to reduce heating and cooling costs. Google said the technology enabled it to reduce energy consumption at its own data centers by 30 percent.

“We’re optimistic that by harnessing new technologies, investing in the right infrastructure and tools, and empowering partners, nonprofits and people, this can be the most decisive decade for climate action yet,” Pichai concluded. “We’re proud to do our part, and to help move the world closer to a carbon-free future for all.”

Delta Air Lines is going to use its frequent-flier SkyMiles program to secure $6.5 billion in cash so it can make it through the COVID-19 pandemic.

While it seems like an unusual use of collateral, Delta isn’t the first airline to take this route. In recent months, United Airlines, American Airlines, and JetBlue all announced plans to do the same.

Delta has been brutally honest about its financial situation. Officials stated that the company was sitting on about $16 billion in cash but burning through somewhere in the neighborhood of $27 million a day. At that rate, its coffers would be bare in less than two years. 

Airlines and banks both win

It’s not only a good deal for the airlines, which can quickly net billions of dollars, but also for banks that can turn the miles into perks for their own credit card customers.

Frequent-flyer programs “are really the golden goose of the airlines. They’re the reason why North American airlines have historically...only had about 20 percent of global capacity but half of global airline profit,” said Morningstar equity analyst Burkett Huey in an interview with the Financial Times.

Huey went on to say that the miles-for-money swap is one of the most aggressive moves he’s seen so far.

To help deal with steeper-than-normal e-commerce demand stemming from the pandemic, Amazon is bringing on even more workers. 

The company announced Monday that it will hire 100,000 more workers -- its fourth hiring spree this year. The positions are for both full and part-time work in the U.S. and Canada. Amazon said the positions that are available are also at 100 package sorting centers and other facilities it is opening in September.

“We are opening 100 buildings this month alone across new fulfillment and sortation centers, delivery stations, and other sites,” Dave Clark, senior vice president of worldwide operations at Amazon, said in a statement.

The positions have a starting wage of at least $15 per hour. In select cities, Amazon will give new hires sign-on bonuses of up to $1,000. 

Increasing hiring

Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Amazon has struggled to keep up with the surge in demand. With the busy holiday season just ahead, Amazon is bracing for yet another spike in online orders. 

In addition to hiring more workers, Amazon said it will also be adding automation at its new buildings to speed up operations.  

“We will continue to deploy technology where appropriate, starting from a safety perspective” and “where we can improve our overall operation,” Alicia Boler Davis, Amazon’s vice president of global customer fulfillment, told CNBC. 

In announcing its latest recruitment drive, Amazon reiterated its commitment to keeping its workers safe during the pandemic. 

“Collectively, our new team members have already completed more than 1,200,000 hours of safety training, with over 500,000 more hours expected, to ensure that in addition to fast and efficient delivery for our customers, we’re providing a safe and modern environment for our employees and partners,” Clark said

Verizon has cut a deal with America Movil to acquire Tracfone, the leading stateside prepaid mobile provider in the U.S. The $6.25 billion price tag includes $3.125 billion in cash and $3.125 billion in Verizon common stock. The deal should close sometime in mid-2021.

Thanks to mergers made in the past few years, like the one between T-Mobile and Sprint, the wireless industry has gradually become smaller. The number of players is shrinking, and those that remain are becoming more powerful.

This deal is no different. With the single stroke of a pen, Verizon gains a tremendous amount of prowess from what Tracfone brings to the table. The purchase means Verizon will add another 21 million subscribers under its corporate banner, more than 90,000 retail locations in businesses like CVS, Family Dollar, and BestBuy, and a firm foothold in the value wireless market. The ledger addition is even more impressive since Tracfone raked in $8.1 billion in 2019.

Good news for Tracfone customers

Verizon says that once the acquisition is put to bed, it expects to bring its 4G LTE and 5G networks to Tracfone customers. It also plans to further develop Tracfone’s distribution channels and expand the brand’s market opportunities.

The complete portfolio of Tracfone brands -- Tracfone, Net10 Wireless, SafeLink Wireless, Straight Talk, Page Plus Cellular, GoSmart Mobile, Telcel America, Simple Mobile, Walmart Family Mobile, and Total Wireless -- will also get the benefit of being in the Verizon family.

“Since its launch, Tracfone has developed strong consumer brands and has established itself as a clear leader in the value mobile segment. This transaction firmly establishes Verizon, through the Tracfone brands, as the provider of choice in the value segment, which complements our clear leadership in the premium segment,” commented Ronan Dunne, Executive Vice President and Group CEO, Verizon Consumer Group. 

The deal may also be good news for Tracfone’s employees. Verizon says it will welcome into its fold each and every one of Tracfone’s nearly 850 valuable workers.

Six months into the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, structural changes are occurring that continue to drive up the price of a home.

Real estate brokerage firm Redfin reports that the median price of homes selling in August rose 13 percent year-over-year to a record $319,178 -- the largest increase since 2013. In the last six months, a growing imbalance between buyers and sellers has ignited housing inflation. 

The necessity to work from home has suddenly made many apartment dwellers -- especially those with families -- decide they need more space. And because many people expect to continue working remotely for the foreseeable future, there has been a migration from cities -- especially New York -- to the suburbs and beyond.

The Redfin report shows that home prices accelerated in conjunction with a big increase in sales. There was a 28 percent rise in the number of homes going under contract last month, the largest increase in five years.

Tough on first-time buyers

While sales are booming, inventory levels have continued to shrink. The number of homes on the market fell 28 percent from August 2019, which Redfin reports has been typical over the summer. Amazingly, more than 46 percent of homes sat on the market no more than two weeks before getting an offer.

The average sale-to-list price ratio, which measures how close homes are selling to their asking prices, rose to 99.3 percent -- an all-time high and a full percentage point higher than a year earlier.

All of this is great news if you are trying to sell your house, which fewer people are doing during the pandemic. It’s not so good if you are trying to buy a home.

"Home price growth this high is making the housing market especially difficult for first-time homebuyers right now," said Redfin’s chief economist Daryl Fairweather. "Rising prices are just one more reason for people to leave expensive urban neighborhoods behind.”

Affordability still a concern

Fairweather notes that the trend of remote work may be opening opportunities for people in urban markets, where they may have good-paying jobs but still can’t afford a home. By moving to a smaller market, they may find their money goes farther and they can continue working remotely.

At the same time, he says the increase in demand for housing in smaller, secondary markets is fueling price increases in those cities.  

“Price growth may slow in 2021, but even if it does, high prices are going to continue to make affordability a concern for buyers," Fairweather said.

Consumers trying to save enough for a down payment are getting squeezed from two directions. Not only do rising prices keep moving the goalposts for a home purchase, but a recent report from Freddie Mac found that rents keep going up as well.

Just like the dwindling supply of homes for sale, the Freddie Mac report found more competition for rental units, causing the rental costs to rise faster than incomes.

Chrysler is recalling 32,318 model year 2019-2020 Ram 3500, 4500 and 5500 cab chassis built with a Cummins 6.7L High Output engine.

Inadequate warmup protection can cause a lack of oil film on the engine connecting rod bearings while the engine is reaching operating temperature. This can result in engine damage and connecting rod failure, which could potentially puncture the engine block.

A damaged engine block may leak oil, which can contact hot engine or exhaust components, increasing the risk of a fire.

What to do

Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will flash the engine calibration software to enhance the engine warm up protection free of charge.

The recall is expected to begin October 16, 2020.

Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at (800) 853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is W57.

Russ Davis Wholesale is recalling peach salsa under the Crazy Fresh and Quick & Easy brands.

The products may be contaminated with Salmonella.

No illnesses have been reported to date.

A list of the recalled products, sold in retail stores in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, Michigan, Iowa, Nebraska and Wyoming, may be found here.

In addition, some containers of peach salsa may have been purchased from the deli counter at grocery stores in Ortonville and Cross Lake, Minn., and Tipton, Iowa. Five Bountiful Fresh gift baskets, also containing the recalled peaches, were sold through one location in Hastings, Minn.

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled products should not consume, but discard them.

Consumers with questions may contact the company at (877) 433-2173 between 8:00 am and 5:00pm (CST), or by email at customerservice@russdaviswholesale.com.

A new study conducted by researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital has found that grieving the loss of a family pet could lead to prolonged mental health issues for young kids. While pet ownership comes with several benefits for consumers, the death of a beloved pet could be a lot to manage for little ones. 

“Thanks to this cohort, we were able to analyze the mental and emotional health of children after examining their experiences with pet death over an extended period of time,” said researcher Erin Dunn. “And we observed that the association between exposure to a pet’s death and psychopathology symptoms in childhood occurred regardless of the child’s socio-economic status or hardships they had already endured in their young lives.” 

Listening to kids’ feelings

The researchers analyzed data from over 6,200 children involved in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPC), which gave them insight into kids’ mental and emotional well-being following the death of a pet. The sample gave them information on how pet deaths affected kids in both the long- and short-term. 

The researchers observed that kids could feel the loss of their family pet for up to three years following the death. While grief and sadness are to be expected, parents should take their children’s feelings seriously. The researchers noticed that symptoms related to depression were common in kids after losing a pet, and these findings were consistent among all of the children involved in the study, regardless of how young they were when the death occurred. 

“One of the first major losses a child will encounter is likely to be the death of a pet, and the impact can be traumatic, especially when that pet feels like a member of the family,” said researcher Katherine Crawford. “We found this experience of pet death is often associated with elevated mental health symptoms in children, and that parents and physicians need to recognize and take those symptoms seriously, not simply brush them off.” 

Parents can be of great value to their kids during these difficult times, and the researchers encourage them to check in with their kids to see how they’re handling the loss. Being present for kids in this way can help them feel supported and inform parents about what their kids are really struggling with. 

“Adults need to pay attention to whether those feelings are deeper and more profound and if they’re lasting longer than might have been expected,” said Crawford. “They could be signs of complicated grief and having someone to talk to in a sympathetic or therapeutic way may be extremely helpful for a child who is grieving.” 

Coronavirus (COVID-19) tally as compiled by Johns Hopkins University. (Previous numbers in parentheses.)

Total U.S. confirmed cases: 6,401,371 (6,370,081)

Total U.S. deaths: 191,842 (191,168)

Total global cases: 28,219,714 (27,925,613)

Total global deaths: 910,460 (905,089)

Number of cases rises three consecutive days

The number of new coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the U.S. is on the rise again, with the number going up three days in a row this week.

An analysis of data compiled by the COVID-19 Tracking Project at Johns Hopkins University shows that there were more than 35,000 cases of the virus. The total number of people who have contracted COVID-19 is more than 6.4 million, and nearly 192,000 people have died.

A slight increase in testing may be responsible for the rising numbers. On the other hand, the increase coincides with college students’ return to campus, where a number of outbreaks have been reported.

CDC: Reopening restaurants likely spread the virus

A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that reopening bars and restaurants has made the COVID-19 situation worse.

“Eating and drinking on-site at locations that offer such options might be important risk factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection,” the CDC said in its report. “Efforts to reduce possible exposures where mask use and social distancing are difficult to maintain, such as when eating and drinking, should be considered to protect customers, employees, and communities.”

The CDC reached its conclusion after studying a group of people from states with varying degrees of reopening who had tested positive for the virus.

Dr. Fauci says America needs to ‘hunker down’

The rise in coronavirus isn’t a surprise to most infectious disease experts, who have consistently warned that America could experience a “second wave” of the virus with the approach of colder weather.

"We need to hunker down and get through this fall and winter because it's not going to be easy," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID).

Fauci said he’s been discouraged when looking at the latest curve, saying the country never was able to reduce the number of weekly cases to the level he had hoped.

Dr. Gottlieb says the lockdown could have been avoided

Now that we’re six months into the pandemic, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is looking in the rearview mirror at what might have been. Different action early on, he says, might have avoided the economic lockdown.

If the U.S. had a national testing program ready to roll out in February. Gottlieb says policymakers might have been able to target stay-at-home measures without bringing the entire economy to a screeching halt.

“When history looks back on this, the lack of situational awareness at that time is going to be remembered as the great failing,” he told CNBC.

Marketing experts offer advice to restaurants

New York City will reopen indoor dining at restaurants at the end of the month, but at only 25 percent of capacity. Some industry analysts say that, without take-out and outdoor seating, it’s almost impossible for restaurants to be profitable under those restrictions.

Marketing experts at the University of Delaware have studied restaurants and their unique challenges and have offered some advice for survival. Number one on the list is maximizing the take-out aspect of the business. 

Timothy Webb, an assistant professor of hospitality business management, says restaurants should also avoid altering the delivery menu from traditional pricing. “Customers know what prices are expected when ordering and the corresponding quality based on price,” he said.

Around the nation

• Illinois: Gov. JB Pritzker has announced that a new employment program, using state and federal funds, will hire 1,300 people to engage in pandemic-related work. The announcement came as the hospitalization rate in the state continued to climb.

• Ohio: States seeing their coronavirus cases mounting just happen to have a number of colleges within their borders. Miami University of Ohio has become the scene of the state’s second-worst outbreak.

• Texas: The Texas American Federation of Teachers, whose members are mostly dubious of plans to reopen classrooms, has launched a new website to track COVID-19 cases, deaths, and questionable safety conditions in schools. Users will be able to search by district and campus and see reports on a map of Texas.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said Thursday that Americans will “need to hunker down” this fall and winter to fight the ongoing threat of COVID-19. 

Although COVID-19 case numbers have been slowly falling in recent weeks, Fauci warned that what’s ahead shouldn’t be underestimated. 

“We need to hunker down and get through this fall and winter, because it’s not going to be easy,” Fauci said during a panel discussion with doctors from Harvard Medical School.

‘We’ve been through this before’

While no one can predict what’s going to happen in the months ahead, Fauci -- who was one of the world’s leading AIDS researchers in the 1980s -- said novel viruses of this magnitude have the potential to spread quickly. He noted that the HIV epidemic started with a few cases and ultimately led to millions of deaths and infections.

“We've been through this before,” he said. “Don't ever, ever underestimate the potential of the pandemic. And don't try and look at the rosy side of things."

Last week, Fauci warned that COVID-19 cases remained "unacceptably high" heading into the Labor Day weekend.

“We're right around 40,000 new cases, that's an unacceptably high baseline,” Fauci said at the time. “We've got to get it down, I'd like to see it 10,000 or less, hopefully less.”

During the virtual panel discussion, Fauci said vaccine trials are “progressing very well” and that he remains hopeful that a safe and effective vaccine will be available by the end of the year. 

Trump believes the worst is over

Fauci’s warning against downplaying what’s on the horizon are at odds with President Trump’s recent assertion that the U.S. has "rounded the final turn" of the pandemic.

“We’re rounding the final turn, and a lot of good things are happening with vaccines and with therapeutics,” Trump told reporters on Thursday.

Health officials say Americans should continue following health and safety measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. As of Thursday, the total number of confirmed cases in the U.S. was 6,370,081, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.