AMERICA RECOVERS 2020

AMERICA RECOVERS 2020

A Resilient Nation NEW NORMAL Homeschooling and remote work

EVERYDAY HEROES Front-line workers keep our communities safe

FIGHTING VIRUS Efforts to mitigate COVID-19 underway

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USA TODAY SPECIAL EDITION

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Inside Big retailers adjust to nation’s new needs A look at Walmart, Lowe’s, Walgreens and CVS. 8

Stepping up to supply essential items In demand: PPE, sanitizers, disinfectants, ventilators and more — plus efficient ways to distribute them. 12

Don’t let your tech get infected, either Working from home? Know the tools to stay safe. 24

Home tests seen as key to COVID control Federal approval will be tough to get, however. 38

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Maribel Perez Wadsworth Publisher and President, USA TODAY Network

Nicole Carroll Editor in Chief

Patty Michalski Executive Editor

Issue editor Lori Santos

Issue photo editor Emily Johnson

Issue designer Bill Campling

Ordinary people, extraordinary compassion

Design manager

Kindness makes it all just a little more bearable. 56

Unions look out for essential workers Organized labor makes safety a top priority. 66

Economic recovery, spelled with a ‘K’ COVID pulled the rug out from under some companies, while others are thriving as a direct result of it. 76

Amazon can be lifeline for entrepreneurs In a pandemic, the ability to sell online is critical. 88

Wishing for ‘normal’ just makes it worse Stay strong and think positive — but be realistic. 98

Holiday travel is all up in the air Fares are low, but this year it’s all about the risks. 108

Jennifer Herrmann

Race toward a vaccine moves at ‘Warp Speed’

ISSN#0734-7456 A USA TODAY Publication, Gannett Co. Inc. USA TODAY, its logo and associated graphics are registered trademarks.

All rights reserved.

Editorial and publication headquarters are at 7950 Jones Branch Drive, McLean, VA 22108.

The government has put billions behind the push, but the scientists and companies working to conquer COVID-19 aren’t really in it for money.

They’re just as affected as the rest of us.

Santa Claus is coming to ... Zoom?

Kriss Kringle getting creative this holiday season. 114

About the cover Design: Jerald Council, creative director, USA TODAY Magazines.

Creativity abounds in virtual classrooms

No one’s going back to the old office

Theme parks could inflate magic bubble

COVID-19 disrupted the end of one school year and the start of another.

But it couldn’t stifle enterprising educators’ commitment to the students they love. 28

When workplaces reopen, they’ll be profoundly and permanently changed.

Expect less-crowded spaces and more-flexible arrangements for people working from home. 92

Rather than requiring masks and distancing everywhere inside, the solution might be to test everyone at the gate (and make it fun), amusement designer says. 104

Images: 1. Nicholas McTaggart restocks the shelves at Phantom Fireworks in Hinsdale, New Hampshire on June 24. By Kristopher Radder/The Brattleboro Reformer via AP. 2. By Getty Images.

3. Students follow along with online lessons Sept. 10 at a tutoring center in Culver City, California.

Schools districts across the country grappled with the question of whether to attempt to reopen in the fall, remain online-ony, or adopt a hybrid learning model. By

AMERICA RECOVERS 2020

1 2 3 4 5 6 A Resilient Nation NEW NORMAL Homeschooling and remote work

EVERYDAY HEROES Front-line workers keep our communities safe

FIGHTING VIRUS Efforts to mitigate COVID-19 underway

Road to Recovery

Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images.

4. By Getty Images.

5. By Getty Images.

6. By Getty Images.

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Artist Suzanne Firstenberg walks through the “How Could This Happen Project” installation on the D.C. Armory Parade Ground in Washington on Oct. 23.

The project uses a small white flag for each of the more than 230,000 lives lost to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. JACK GRUBER/USA TODAY

AMERICA RECOVERS

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merica is in the process of reopening, even as COVID-19 continues to take a toll on our citizenry. In this special edition, we pay tribute to companies that are helping keep America going, highlight some major retailers’ initiatives to supply necessities and services during the pandemic, and take a look at what others are doing on the front lines and beyond. And in the background: the ongoing eff ort to conquer COVID with a vaccine.

— USA TODAY

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As even more holiday shopping moves online, Walmart said it is hiring 20,000 seasonal workers at its fulfi llment centers nationwide. NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Walmart scatters Black Friday crowds Holiday shopping season getting a whole new look Kelly Tyko USA TODAY

Walmart is getting ready for a diff erent kind of holiday season amid the coronavirus pandemic — one that gives new meaning to the old deal-hunter’s mantra of “avoid the crowds.”

The retailing giant outlined its plans to accommodate a surge in online holiday shopping, meet the anticipated demand for pandemic-driven gift items and prepare stores for “safe shopping.”

Walmart promised an “all-new Black Friday experience” and said it “will spread traditional Black Friday savings throughout the season” with more deals available online.

In addition, Walmart said it is hiring 20,000 seasonal workers for its fulfi llment centers, including order fi llers and power equipment operators.

Greg Smith, Walmart’s U.S. executive vice president of supply chain, said in September that as more shoppers “turn to online shopping, we want to ensure we’re staff ed and ready to help deliver.”

The temporary positions at fulfi llment centers, or FCs, are posted at walmartcareers.com/fcjobs and also can be applied for by texting FC to 240240.

The starting hourly rate for the seasonal jobs ranges from $15.75 to $23.75 based on location, position and schedule. The jobs begin immediately and continue through Jan. 1. Some positions could convert to regular employment.

Walmart said it had hired more than 500,000 new employees across the company to ensure the retailer could “pro-

vide essential items to customers during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Walmart also recently announced that it was giving approximately 165,000 hourly workers a raise by introducing new leadership roles and “cross-training opportunities.”

Walmart hinted at a diff erent approach to the diff erent holiday season back in July, when it announced that its stores would be closed on Thanksgiving for the fi rst time since the late 1980s.

Thanksgiving and the next day, “Black Friday,” have long been considered the start of the holiday shopping season.

Home Depot, Target and Best Buy said they, too, will start off ering deals for the holiday season earlier than before in an eff ort to spread out demand and, hopefully, thin the crowds amid COVID-19.

Scott McCall, Walmart’s U.S. executive vice president and chief merchandising offi cer, said customers have been shopping diff erently over the past six to seven months, and that’s expected to continue into the holiday season.

“We’ve heard from our customers that many plan on starting their holiday shopping well before Black Friday, and that they’re looking for gifts that fi t their current lifestyle,” McCall said. “So, we’ve adjusted our strategy.”

The retailer said it is “increasing availability of unexpected holiday gifts that refl ect lifestyles in this ‘new normal,’ including athleisure, loungewear and sleepwear for the family, outdoor grills, bicycles and exercise equipment and outdoor sporting equipment.”

Walmart said it has also increased inventory of traditional gifts including electronics with a “focus on TVs, laptops and video games” and will have more than 1,300 new toys (There is a top toy list online). There also will be a larger assortment of pet products, and Walmart said it’s “ready to sell over 3 million comfy pet beds.”

Walmart said its stores, including Supercenters and Neighborhood Markets, “will continue to be closed to customers overnight to give associates extra time to clean and sanitize stores and stock shelves.” As the pandemic took hold in the spring, Walmart stores that had been open 24 hours began closing at night.

Face coverings and masks, which Walmart began requiring at stores nationwide July 20, will continue to be mandatory, and the plastic barriers known as sneeze guards will “remain in Walmart pharmacies, at checkout and at other points of sale to distance customers and associates.”

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Stuck at home in a DIY mood Unplanned projects lead to soaring sales at Lowe’s Michelle Chapman and Anne D’Innocenzio The Associated Press

Home improvement retailer Lowe's has seen its sales surge as Americans stuck at home during the pandemic found the inspiration, and the opportunity, to improve those homes.

Comparable store sales in the U.S. spiked 35.1% in quarterly results the company reported in August, and online orders more than doubled.

The move by Lowe’s to revamp its outdated online business paid off as shoppers shut in because of the pandemic shifted to online services for supplies for their do-it-yourself home projects. CEO Marvin Ellison told analysts that many of those projects weren't planned.

“Customers are fi nding projects around the house," he said. “We don't see this (increase in demand) as pull-forward. We see this as incremental.”

Ellison told The Associated Press that money from federal stimulus checks did fuel some of the increase in spending, but that shoppers also adjusted their household budgets to account for declines in spending in other areas, such as travel. Lowe’s is based in Mooresville, North Carolina, and has more than 2,000 stores nationwide.

Lowe's revenue for the three months that ended July 31 climbed to $27.3 billion from $21 billion, the company said, far better than the $24.85 billion analysts expected, according to a survey by Zacks Investment Research.

Online sales soared 135%, while same-store sales, including those outside the U.S., rose 34.2%.

Ellison said customers seemed mostly focused on repair and maintenance of their current homes. At the same time, though, many were focused on fi nding a new home with more space for an offi ce from which to work remotely, or one with

Sales at Lowe’s stores in the U.S., such as this location in Farmingdale, New York, jumped 35% in the quarter that ended July 31. Online sales more than doubled. BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES

a yard rather than a stoop.

The company announced over the summer that it will pay an additional $100 million in discretionary bonuses to frontline hourly workers in its U.S. stores, distribution centers and store support centers.

Employees were to receive the bonus on Oct. 16, with full-time workers receiving $300 each and part-time and seasonal hires getting $150.

“Throughout the spring, summer and now into fall, our frontline associates have shown remarkable resilience and dedication to our communities in the most trying times we have faced together,” Ellison said.

Lowe’s has given more than $675 million in incremental fi nancial support to workers this year, the company said.

At Walgreens and CVS, flu shots come with a dose of precaution Nathan Bomey USA TODAY

Pharmacy staff at Walgreens and CVS will be giving people seasonal fl u shots as usual this fall and winter, but they’ll be doing so with a new set of precautions, including wearing face shields and checking temperatures.

The nation’s two largest drugstore chains have implemented the measures amid swirling concerns about the collision of the COVID-19 pandemic with the annual fl u season. The combination of the two is expected to strain the health care system.

“Prior to administration of an immunization, pharmacy team members will take patients’ temperature and screen for the presence of symptoms or illness,”

a statement from Walgreens said. “Immunizations will be deferred if a patient has a fever or other symptoms associated with illness until after symptoms are resolved.”

CVS will also conduct temperature checks, ask about COVID-19 symptoms and require pharmacists to wear face shields when giving the vaccine.

Walgreens is expecting an increase in demand for fl u vaccinations ranging from 30% to 50%, said Rina Shah, the company’s group vice president of pharmacy and operations.

“We’re prepared to support that demand,” she said.

Looking ahead to potential COVID-19 vaccines, Shah said Walgreens is also prepared to off er them if and when one or more are available.

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New tools redefi ne ‘business as usual’ Thermometers, plastic and sanitizer stations Ellen Wiessner

Special to USA TODAY

It’s said that one of the things that makes us human is our ability to use tools. We’ve been tapping into that elemental skill as our workplaces reopen.

From mom-and-pop shops to large corporations, companies are deploying a wide array of tools to try to protect employees and customers from COVID-19.

Signs remind us to wear masks, maintain social distancing and look out for symptoms. Floor decals and colored tape show us what 6 feet really looks like.

Non-contact thermometers have been put into use everywhere from nail salons to offi ce buildings. The handheld tools — typically battery-operated — use infrared energy to take quick temperature readings when aimed at the forehead.

Many models emit an audible signal when they detect a fever.

Also used to take temperatures, but from a greater distance, are thermal imaging systems can record surface skin temperature readings without being physically close. Experts warn, though, that they tend not to be accurate at reading more than one person at a time. So attempting to screen crowds by positioning the systems in, say, a lobby or building entrance may not be eff ective.

Atlanta’s six City Farmers Markets started using thermal cameras at their store entrances as early as March. Anyone that the system fl agged as showing a temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher was to be informed.

Plexiglass and acrylic panels are being put to work as workstation dividers.

Some are surface-mounted, some are suspended from the ceiling, some have pass-throughs cut out for use by workers such as clerks and tellers. Flexible plastic sheeting also is being hung from ceilings to separate work spaces. The sheeting is also being used to separate drivers from

Non-contact thermometers can take temperature readings from the forehead without being pressed against the skin. The handheld devices are becoming a standard tool for businesses trying to reopen safely. KEVIN R. WEXLER/NORTHJERSEY.COM

Floor markings keep folks 6 feet apart in stores, offices and other locations — including this polling place in Terre Haute, Indiana. KELLY WILKINSON/INDYSTAR

Plexiglass panels make face-to-face transactions a little less risky at locations like the Phoenix airport.

Hand sanitizer dispensers are just about everywhere now, including at the Bitter And Twisted bar in Phoenix.

THOMAS HAWTHORNE/THE REPUBLIC

MEG POTTER/THE REPUBLIC

passengers in for-hire vehicles.

Offi ces are installing freestanding hand sanitizer dispenser stations and even portable sink stations, complete with water tanks, sinks, faucets and heaters to make sure everyone keeps washing their hands as advised.

Then there’s wearable technology to encourage social distancing and facilitate contact tracing.

Employees can carry devices — or clip

them to a belt or lanyard — that sense when they are too close to another device and alert them to maintain a safe distance, usually with visual, vibrating or audible alerts. Wearable devices can also track who has come into contact with whom. More sophisticated systems incorporate an app that records contacts automatically and allows each user to enter health information, such as noting if they have developed a fever or cough.

That can be used to alert others using the system if they’ve been in contact with that person.

Finally, in a development that might one day help us return to cheer on our hometown teams or hear our favorite bands in person, robots and drones have undertaken the tasks of automated disinfection, especially in vast indoor spaces like warehouses, sports arenas and convention centers.

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Manufacturers step up to equip health workers U.S. factories turn out masks, scrubs, wipes and more Ellen Wiessner

Special to USA TODAY

Not long ago, PPE was an abbreviation familiar mostly to medical professionals. The rest of us were lucky not to know what it meant.

Not anymore. Shortages of personal protective equipment like N-95 masks, face shields, gloves, disposable gowns and booties have been a problem since the pandemic began and persist as states brace for rising infection rates this winter. Health care workers tell harrowing stories of having to reuse single-use gear, running out of critical supplies and being forced to fashion their own makeshift protective outfi ts.

Adding to the problem, much of the country’s PPE has been coming from abroad, making it even harder to ensure a steady supply. But U.S. manufacturers have been stepping up.

In May, Armbrust American opened a facility in the Austin, Texas, area to make surgical masks. The company said health care workers deserved more than the standard greens and blues, so it began turning out masks in an array of colors, including creamsicle, coral, sea foam, American denim, charcoal and “Pretty in Pink.” Not far away in Waco, GelPro, a maker of anti-fatigue fl oor mats, shifted its manufacturing capacity to produce face shields for medical workers and fi rst responders. It also donated thousands of its mats to drive-up COVID-19 testing stations across the country.

Antibacterial pre-moistened wipes are in high demand, and U.S. companies making them include Tufco Technologies of Green Bay, Wisconsin, Nice-Pak Products of Orangeburg, New York, and Diamond Wipes International, which makes its products in California and Ohio.

Diamond Wipes’ tubs of HandyClean Steridol Wipes meet the standards set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for eff ectiveness against viruses similar to COVID-19 on hard, non-porous surfaces. The company, started by a Taiwanese immigrant in 1994 to sell hand wipes to Chinese restaurants in Los Angeles, makes a variety of products but has concentrated its production on Steridol wipes, which are used to clean exposed surfaces in health-care settings from doorknobs to light switches and railings.

To help health care workers who must remain on their feet for long, stressful hours, Scholl’s Wellness donated $2 million in insoles to frontline professionals.

Uniform Advantage of Florida kicked into high gear to make its scrubs available, and Barco Uniforms, which makes clothing for health-care workers, launched a program to donate 10,000 scrubs a month during the pandemic. Some of Barco’s lines feature protective fi nishes, and others are sustainably made from recycled plastic water bottles.

Also still in high demand are tools like stethoscopes, thermometers, forceps and otoscopes, used for ear examinations, like those made by California-based Prestige Medical, and breathing devices made by OMRON, which makes nebulizers, aspirators, blood pressure monitors and blood glucose monitors and uses antimicrobial Microban protective technology.

Steridol wipes kill viruses on hard surfaces.

DIAMOND WIPES

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RPP Products CEO Eric Zwigart delivers 250 donated gallons of hand sanitizer to Lisa Scales and the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank in May. COURTESY OF RPP

It’s a lot easier to get hands on sanitizers After early shortages, new makers stepped up Ellen Wiessner

Special to USA TODAY

Hand sanitizers have become as common an item in Americans’ pockets and purses as their keys and phones.

Nearly impossible to fi nd in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, sanitizing products have recently fl ooded store shelves, thanks to companies that stepped up when existing brands couldn’t meet the demand.

(Not familiar with a hand sanitizer you see on the shelf? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says to look for alcohol content of at least 60%.)

RPP Products, a Bloomington, California-based maker of automotive oil and additives, shifted its production in just seven days in April to start making more than 20,000 gallons of hand sanitizer a day. CEO Eric Zwigart has committed to giving a portion of sales to homeless shelters, food banks and other community services.

Looking at the demand for disinfecting wipes, family-owned Rockline Industries of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, found a fresh way to get its products to the public more quickly. Rockline makes Good & Clean brand wipes and also major retail store brands, which are typically packed in hard plastic canisters. When those ran out early in the pandemic, Rockline started putting its disinfecting wipes in soft packs, the way baby wipes

GE Appliances has added Microban protection for some washers. GE

are packaged. The change required expedited approval from the Environmental Protection Agency, which oversees such packaging changes.

Elsewhere on store shelves, one topbrand sanitizer has come from Procter & Gamble, which launched a line of clean-

ing products it calls Microban 24. They include a sanitizing spray, a multipurpose cleaner and a bathroom cleaner scents that qualify under EPA antimicrobial guidelines.

The P&G product line was developed in parternship with Microban International, whose technologies have been incorporated into a wide array of products to give them antimicrobial properties.

Microban protection has been added to the fi nishes of handles, doorknobs and levers by hardware maker Kwikset, into mousepads, wrist supports and workstations made by Fellowes and in caulks and sealants by DAP Products. Canada’s TORLY's, which makes commercial and residential fl ooring, has added Microban antimicrobial protection to its recycled cork underlayer that is used for insulation and absorption, and GE Appliances added Microban technology to the washer gaskets, dispensers and pumps of its front-loading washing machines to help fi ght odor-causing bacteria.

Microban has warned, by the way, that its disinfectant products are eff ective against microbes on surfaces but do not have antiviral properties when they are built into products.

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EPA lists COVID killers by name Disinfectant products meet agency standards Kelly Tyko USA TODAY

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has compiled a list of brandname disinfectants that can protect against the spread of the coronavirus.

According to the EPA, products on the list have “qualifi ed for use against COVID-19” through the agency’s Emerging Viral Pathogen program. Under that program, manufacturers must provide data that “shows their products are eff ective against harder-to-kill viruses.”

Coronaviruses are so-called enveloped viruses, “meaning they are one of the easiest types of viruses to kill with the appropriate disinfectant product,” the EPA says.

“Using the correct disinfectant is an important part of preventing and reducing the spread of illnesses along with other critical aspects such as hand washing,” EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a news release.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that “diluted household bleach solutions, alcohol solutions with at least 70% alcohol, and most common EPA-registered household disinfectants should be eff ective” for disinfection.

The CDC also cited another list of products with EPA-approved “emerging viral pathogens claims” from the American Chemistry Council. Many of the products from the EPA list also are on the American Chemistry Council list.

The EPA says consumers should follow product directions and pay “close attention to the contact time for the product on the treated surface.” In other words, it might not be enough to just spray and wipe. You may have to spray, wait and then wipe.

The agency notes that additional disinfectants may meet the criteria and could be added to the list.

The EPA released a list of disinfectant products that are “qualifi ed for use” against the coronavirus. KELLY TYKO/USA TODAY

EPA list of registered disinfectants

‘Fighting products’

Here are some of the registered disinfectants on the EPA’s list. h Clorox Disinfecting Wipes h Clorox Commercial Solutions h Clorox Disinfecting Spray h Clorox Multi-Surface Cleaner + Bleach h Klercide 70/30 h Lonza Formulation h Lysol Clean & Fresh Multi-Surface Cleaner h Lysol Disinfectant Max Cover Mist h Lysol Heavy-Duty Cleaner Disinfectant Concentrate h Oxycide Daily Disinfectant Cleaner h Peak Disinfectant Wipes h Peroxide Multi Surface Cleaner and Disinfectant h Peroxide Disinfectant and Glass Cleaner h Purell Professional Surface Disinfectant Wipes h Sani-Prime Germicidal Disposable Wipe h Sani-Prime Germicidal Spray

The American Chemistry Council’s Center for Biocide Chemistries posted a list of “fi ghting products” at Americanchemistry.com, which the website said were pre-approved by the EPA “for use against emerging enveloped viral pathogens and can be used during the ... (COVID-19) outbreak.” The site said it was providing the list as a “public service,” and notes that it is “not exhaustive” but can be used to “identify products suitable for use against COVID-19.” h Cosa Oxonia Active h Microban 24 Hour Multi-Purpose Cleaner h Microban 24 Hour Bathroom Cleaner h Lemon Disinfectant h Cosa Oxonia Active h Clear Gear Sports Spray h Foster First Defense h Sani-Spritz Spray h Don-O-Mite h One-Step Disinfectant Cleaner h X-Ray Apron Cleaner Disinfectant h All Purpose Virex h Maxim GSC Germicidal Spray Cleaner

h SaniZide Pro 1 Spray h Bright Solutions Lemon Zip Disinfectant h Simple Green Clean Finish h TB Quat Disinfectant h Bioesque Solutions Botanical Disinfectant Solution h REScue Ready to Use One Step Disinfectant Cleaner & Deodorizer h Zep Spirit II h Zep Antibacterial Disinfectant & Cleaner h Zep Quick Clean Disinfectant h Stepan Spray Disinfectant Concentrate h Buckeye Sanicare Lemon Quat h 3M Quat Disinfectant Cleaner Concentrate h Symplicity Sanibet Multi-Range Sanitizer h Pine Quat h Quaternary Disinfectant Cleaner h TruShot Disinfectant Cleaner for Hospitals h TruShot Disinfectant Cleaner Restroom Cleaner & Disinfectant h Formula 17750 Wintermint h Formula 17822 Deo-Clean Multi h Neutra-Tec 64

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A nurse dons a face shield at a COVID-19 testing facility in Suffern, New York, in July. Back in the spring, New York was the focus of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. Aggressive measures helped drop the state’s infection rate to among the lowest in the country, but fall brought fears of another wave. PETER CARR/THE JOURNAL NEWS

Supply chains stretch and strain The Northeast’s experience, then and now, shows just how many weak links there are David Robinson

| USA TODAY Network

In early April, New York’s governor warned that the state had only enough available ventilators to last six days, as waves of seriously ill coronavirus patients fl ooded hospitals.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo outlined a plan to move lifesaving breathing machines from upstate communities with limited outbreaks to aid New York City-area hospitals hit hardest by the virus.

“I’m not going to let people die because we didn’t redistribute ventilators,” Cuomo said, announcing that the National Guard would be deployed to take the ventilators.

The episode ignited a fi restorm and embodied the nation’s chaotic response to dire shortages of medical supplies.

New York narrowly avoided running

out of ventilators after getting an 11thhour shipment of 1,000 devices from China, but the consequences of U.S. over-reliance on overseas manufacturing had been laid bare.

Shortages of personal protective equipment, which is also often made in China, underscored the problem and contributed to the coronavirus death tolls in New York and New Jersey of about 32,800 and 15,900, respectively, the highest nationally.

After all the death and suff ering, the Northeast had the lowest infection rates in the country by the time fall arrived, but it is bracing for a second surge.

Surging COVID-19 infection rates in See SUPPLY, Page 22

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companies $2.9 billion for 187,000 of the breathing machines to boost national stockpiles during the pandemic.

Some health care experts expressed concerns that problems with distributing the ventilators, as well as deploying clinicians trained to use the devices across the country, remain unresolved.

“Globally, the ventilator supply is good,” Pustavoitau said. “But the problem that we have seen is how they were distributed to the areas of greatest need.”

Democratic lawmakers have pushed legislation seeking to federalize management of the medical supply chain, citing shortages throughout the pandemic.

The White House defended its handling of PPE and ventilator distribution and touted eff orts to produce medical goods stateside, such as the $765 million government loan going to Rochester, New York-based Eastman Kodak to help expedite the domestic production of generic drugs.

Supply Continued from Page 20

other parts of the country led to new reports of medical supply shortages, spanning from personal protective equipment and testing supplies to disinfectant wipes and drugs.

Some health care workers and experts asserted that all levels of government have failed to suffi ciently shore up medical supply and distribution chains heading into the fall, complicating debates over the wisdom of reopening schools.

“We have not done enough, and I am deeply concerned that we will have ongoing COVID with infl uenza as well,” said Lewis Kaplan, president of the Society of Critical Care Medicine. “I am very concerned that we will reach that same place … where we will perhaps not have enough PPE again, and we will not have enough ventilators.”

Aliaksei Pustavoitau, a critical care expert at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said the Northeast’s experience in the spring exposed gaping holes in emergency preparedness in American medicine.

“The magnitude of what happened was not matched in the plans,” Pustavoitau said. Medical supply chains are “designed, in general, to move things just in time,” he said. “When those supply chains started breaking down, everyone started getting short.”

PPE challenges remain In New York, state and federal offi cials announced measures to boost domestic production of medical supplies.

About $11 million in grants has been awarded to 20 New York-based companies to retool operations to manufacture COVID-19 supplies, such as millions of N-95 protective masks, testing kits and a broad range of other gear.

In announcing the grants, Cuomo said, “The nation has learned a hard lesson about not having a supply chain for vital supplies based here at home in the U.S., and as a result we had to scour the globe for lifesaving products.

“That won’t happen again in New York,” he said, citing the in-state manufacturing push.

Less than 10% of the masks used in the U.S. are made here. China makes almost half the world’s masks, gowns, medical gloves and other PPE.

Pessimism heading into fall Lifesaving technology: A ventilator helps a COVID-19 patient breathe in the coronavirus unit at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston. DAVID J. PHILLIP/AP

New York state health offi cials issued orders July 21 requiring hospitals to maintain at least a 90-day supply of PPE

by Sept. 30, and a similar directive mandated that nursing homes maintain a 60day supply. Any facilities that fail to meet the requirements could have their operating licenses suspended or revoked.

But hospitals were struggling in the fall to obtain protective gear.

“There is limited supply available, and prices remain very high,” said Bea Grause, president of the Healthcare Association of New York State, a group that represents hospitals and nursing homes.

Grause said health care operators are working toward meeting the stockpile mandate. Eff orts to replenish state and federal PPE stockpiles could prove crucial as cases rise nationally, she said.

As federal eff orts to boost PPE production are expected to fall short, the status of many state stockpiles remain shrouded in secrecy.

Jill Montag, spokeswoman for the New York Department of Health, said the agency’s policy prohibits commenting on its stockpile.

What health care workers say Reports of PPE shortages triggered pushback from health workers whose lives were endangered by inadequate equipment. Health care unions demanded that state governments and hospitals

disclose PPE supply information and improve safety standards and training.

Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez, president of the New York State Nurses Association, said the situation evoked memories of hospitals and health care leaders ignoring nurses’ concerns about unsafe conditions at the beginning of the pandemic.

“They basically say we have a supply of PPE and we’re prepared, but that’s what they said six months ago,” she said.

Many nurses “didn’t feel protected at work, and a lot of us got sick.”

Nationally, just 24% of nurses said their employer provides a safe workplace, according to a National Nurses United survey in July, which noted that more than 165 nurses had died in connection with COVID-19.

The Health Professionals and Allied Employees union in New Jersey said the lack of proper protective gear, inadequate training and lax government enforcement of safety requirements caused hundreds of health workers to be infected with coronavirus.

The union members said a massive PPE shortage remains as the state reopens and braces for a possible resurgence in cases.

“We know if we are not safe, neither are our patients,” said Debbie White, the union president.

New York’s desperate scramble to fi nd ventilators was partially responsible for prompting federal offi cials to pay nine

Mounting concerns about surging COVID-19 cases have some health experts, unions and hospital trade groups warning that local and state leaders could lack the tools to contain the virus this fall.

New York’s nation-leading COVID-19 testing infrastructure has surpassed 6 million diagnostic tests since March, but challenges remain for contact-tracing programs to identify people potentially exposed to the virus and persuade them to quarantine.

A CDC survey found 54% of people diagnosed with coronavirus were unable to pinpoint who may have infected them.

Experts said the survey results underscored how community and asymptomatic spread complicates contact tracing.

In New Jersey, offi cials said people do not want to give information to contact tracers, hampering eff orts to control the spread of the virus.

It all comes as renewed strains on medical supplies and rising levels of interstate travel endanger outbreak-mitigation strategies across the country.

“This really needs to be a federal effort,” Kaplan said, which would entail better coordinating the fl ow of drugs and ventilators to doctors and nurses.

“We have a national health care crisis,” he said. “And I’d like to hear someone say we don’t have a national health care system, but in these key and important ways, we’re going to weld one together for all of us.”

Contributing: Lindy Washburn, Terrence McDonald and Alexis Shanes, USA TODAY Network

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From left, Erin Walter, Angelica Kenrick and Sheri Rearick, colleagues at the Professional Beauty Association, maintain distance at Kenrick’s home in Phoenix in May. Walter and Rearick surprised Kenrick on her birthday by coming over to work. DAVID WALLACE/THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC

Avoid that other kind of virus Computer security counts when working from home Elizabeth Weise USA TODAY

SAN FRANCISCO — So you’re working remotely because of the coronavirus.

About the worst thing you could do is download a bunch of sketchy programs for videoconferencing, mobile working and the like that might carry computer viruses and make it so you can’t do any work at all.

Here are some tips from cybersecurity experts to keep you safe and your computer (and boss) happy.

First, take a deep breath and re-read whatever work-from-home memo your employer sent. It should tell you which programs you should be using for calls, videoconferencing and fi le sharing, and it should tell you whether you need to use a virtual private network, or VPN, to accesss your organization’s network.

If the memo doesn’t tell you these things, ask.

“It’s OK to just wait a couple of minutes to check with someone rather than downloading something that could cause problems,” said Ning Wang, CEO of Off ensive Security, a cybersecurity company in New York.

There’s a chance you already have some or all of the applications you need.

You can hold conference and video calls with FaceTime and Google, and you might already use Zoom or Microsoft Teams or Slack for work.

If you don’t, though, see what your employer recommends. It might take your IT department a day to fi gure things out if remote work is a new concept for the organization, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. It’s amazing how much you can get done simply with emails and phone calls while they get things set up.

If you do have to install new software or tools, stick to well-known companies or ones that have been vetted and approved by your employer. When it comes to mobile apps, make sure you’re getting them from either the Apple App Store or Google Play. Both companies are being extra careful about apps at this point. Do not, under any circumstances, download apps from third-party sites. They’re known for being malware havens.

There are two main types of VPNs: h The fi rst is a personal VPN. This creates a secured internet connection so you can maintain your privacy even when using public Wi-Fi networks. h The other is a corporate VPN. These are typically used for accessing offi ce resources. They allow your computer to connect to your organization’s network as if you were at the offi ce.

Ask your IT department whether you need to use a VPN and, if so, which one they want you to use.

If you don’t have an IT department to ask, well-regarded personal VPN providers include Express VPN, NordVPN, CyberGhost and IPVanish, said Paul Bischoff , a consumer privacy expert and editor of Comparitech.com, a security-

focused tech research and review site.

Note that these options all cost money. That’s a good thing. Free software is an open invitation to the kind of security risks a VPN is supposed to prevent.

“You know when it’s free it also comes with a price. When it’s a virus or a bot they installed so they can spy on you, it's not worth it,” Wang said.

Most companies perform behind-thescenes backups of network data so workers never have to think about it. Check to see whether that will still happen if you’re working remotely. If it won’t, for small amounts of data, you can store fi les on Google Drive and DropBox. If you need something more all-encompassing and secure, popular sites include IDrive, IBackup and CrashPlan.

And beware of scams, which are coming thick and fast nowadays, said Adam Meyers, vice president of intelligence at CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity fi rm based in Sunnyvale, California.

If you get an email claiming to be from IT with links or documents, confi rm that it’s legitimate by sending a new email (rather than replying to the address the possible scam came from) or calling your IT department.

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Who’s watching your home network?

Security services keep the bad actors at bay Frank Bajak

The Associated Press

Not that long ago, computer security at home didn’t involve much more than installing an antivirus program on your PC. If only it were still so simple.

It’s no longer just about protecting the computer you may be using to work from home and the laptops the kids may be using for online school. Odds are you’ve got a few (or a few dozen) other internetconnected devices around the house — phones, tablets, game consoles, maybe a “smart” TV or thermostat or refrigerator or light bulb or kid’s toy or security camera or video-streaming gadget or voiceactivated digital assistant.

The average U.S. home now has 11 such devices, according to Deloitte, many of which are vulnerable to hacking.

If you don’t want cyber-burglars pawing through them, potentially spreading malware or ransomware as they go, you’ll want to secure your entire home network.

Home networks are a major target for cybercriminals, who use innocuous smart gadgets as stepping stones to loot data from PCs and phones. Or they may draft these simpler devices into much larger “botnets” that can be used to wreak havoc across the internet.

On average, one in three internet connections from home networks involve devices other than computers or phones, so there’s plenty of opportunity for mischief if you don’t lock your virtual windows to the networked world.

You can do it yourself, but that can be a lot of work, and the potential consequences of any mistakes could be signifi cant. For most people, it makes better sense to pay for a network-protection

High school junior Bryan Santiago, 16, and his sister, fi fth-grader Julia Santiago, 10, attend class online from separate computers in their home in Mount Vernon, New York. The average U.S. home has 11 devices connected to the internet, research has found, including computers, phones, tablets, TVs, appliances and more. TANIA SAVAYAN/THE JOURNAL NEWS

service, whether off ered by your internet provider or another business.

How does this work?

Think of your home network as a bunch of cans tied to one another with strings. Those are all your in-house devices and the data they share with one another.

Now picture each of those cans tied to thousands of other strings that lead outside your home. Those are the data connections your devices routinely make on the global internet. It’s beyond our capacity to constantly monitor all those connections. We need help.

A good network-security service sets

up fi rewalls to block unwanted data traffi c, but it doesn’t stop there. Since fi rewalls are imperfect, it will also monitor network traffi c using artifi cial intelligence to detect unusual patterns. It keeps an eye on your devices and on malicious internet domains, alerting you to potential threats and blocking suspicious websites.

Typically, you’ll be able to confi gure your security and respond to alerts from a laptop or phone. Providers let you block unauthorized users and websites from connecting to your home gadgets.

Often, these services also allow parents to set rules for the websites kids can

visit and set limits on screen time.

“Most consumers don’t have the necessary know-how as to how to secure their home network,” says Michael Philpott, a connected-home analyst with the Omdia tech research fi rm. “The only real option is to have a central solution that can monitor all connected devices.”

Start by checking out the service provided by your broadband provider or the company that made your router. Ask: Is the software easy to set up and to use?

Check which security fi rm supplies the underlying security tools; Bitdefender, FSecure, McAfee and Trend Micro are among industry leaders.

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William Raymond, 5, checks his school's homework page in Conway Township, Michigan, in farm country northwest of Detroit. CODY SCANLON FOR LIVINGSTON DAILY

Creative classrooms COVID-19 disrupted the end of one school year and the start of another.

But it couldn’t stifl e enterprising educators’ commitment to learning

Matt Alderton

Special to USA TODAY

Notwithstanding fi re drills, ornery class clowns and mischief in the presence of substitute teachers, classrooms most of the time are orderly, predictable places that thrive on the comfort of routine. But when states began issuing stay-at-home orders in March in response to COVID-19, educators everywhere had to throw routine in the wastebasket like yesterday’s homework.

Forced to re-engineer their classrooms and lesson plans for virtual and hybrid learning, teachers and administrators faced extraordinary circumstances that have challenged them professionally as well as personally. While their eff orts helped students continue to learn reading, writing and arithmetic, their creativity, compassion and commitment also taught by example something far more useful: resilience.

Here, educators from seven diff erent schools share what they did, how they did it, and why.

See LEARNING, Page 29

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SAFETY IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT When school started this fall, families in the Massapequa School District on New York’s Long Island could choose inperson or online learning. The former requires plexiglass barriers, masks and vigorous handwashing — which might sound unpleasant to parents, but for students has actually been fun.

That’s thanks to educators like fi rstyear teacher Amanda Corbett, who teaches fi rst grade at East Lake Elementary School in Massapequa Park. To make her classroom as happy as it is healthy, she transformed kids’ desks into cars, with plexiglass barriers as the windows and windshield. She got students into the idea on the fi rst day of school by having them make license plates. When she needs students’ attention, she says “fl at tire,” to which the class responds with “ssshhh” like the sound of a tire losing air. And when it’s time to sanitize the space, students wash their cars to the tune of Christina Aguilera’s “Car Wash.”

Wipes have to be disposed of by the end of the song, which makes cleaning the classroom fun and fast.

“I feel that my creativity and enthusiasm help to make the students feel excited to learn,” Corbett says. “There are times I question if I am doing things right … However, I want to follow my own advice and preach what I teach, and that is a growth mindset. The world is learning new information about this virus every day, and so am I. “I am viewing every challenge as an opportunity to grow as an educator.”

OUTDOOR EDUCATION The weather in Colorado can be unpredictable: warm and sunny one day, cold and snowy the next — whether it’s January or June. But that hasn’t deterred Aspen Academy in Greenwood Village, Colorado, from creating new outdoor education spaces designed for safety and stimulation.

Because it wanted to host students on campus in the fall, the private K-8 school hatched a plan for teachers to hold 75% of their classes outdoors.

“We know that being outside is great for COVID risk mitigation. And oh, by the way, kids love learning outside, so it’s ac-

Schools across the U.S. have had to reconfi gure their classrooms for hybrid learning, in which some students attend in person and others are online in order to reduce the number of people in each room at any given time. Desks are farther apart, masks are required, and the lights are often dimmed because so much is happening on computer screens. Above, Paramus Catholic High School in New Jersey, where students alternate three days in school and three days virtual. CHRIS PEDOTA/NORTHJERSEY.COM

Kristina Scala of Aspen Academy in Colorado.

The school is holding 75% of classes outdoors and has confi gured its campus to make that possible.

COURTESY OF KRISTINA SCALA

tually a lot of fun for them,” says Aspen’s head of school, Kristina Scala. She had wooden decks built on unused corners of her campus to serve as platforms for large canvas classroom tents.

The tents were originally designed for “glamping,” a kind of luxury camping popular at resorts and near national parks. Each tent has fl aps that can be opened or closed to control air fl ow, and all are snow-rated to allow for continued use in winter.

“There’s no bad weather; there’s just bad clothes,” Scala says. The school also converted a former drainage pit into a boulder-lined amphitheater that can accommodate three socially distant outdoor classes at a time. “It’s an opportunity for kids to learn in a way that’s quite unique, and they’re really loving it.”

CLOSING THE TECH GAP For some families, the transition to online learning has been seamless. For others, the technology that was supposed to facilitate education has actually gotten in the way of it. That was the case in Idaho’s Boise School District, according to Megan Axtman, reading specialist and technology coordinator at Taft Elementary School, where 97% of the student body is from low-income families.

“We couldn’t assume in any case that students could simply log in and get to their learning,” Axtman says. “It’s just never that simple.”

Students who couldn’t access online learning in the spring instead picked up See LEARNING, Page 30

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First-grade teacher Jamie Crum of Lincoln Elementary in Jackson, Tennessee, cheers for her students during their morning meeting. Crum, who is in her fi rst year of teaching, doesn’t get to see all of her students often because many of her lessons are pre-recorded for them to watch at home. STEPHANIE AMADOR / THE JACKSON SUN

Learning Continued from Page 29

paper learning packets at school each Monday. Come fall, the school district wanted to do better. It reallocated its budget to provide take-home technology to every student in the district, which began the school year online, then switched to a hybrid model for all but 4,000 students who elected to spend the entire year doing distance learning.

To prepare students for remote education, teachers hosted “device deployment days” during which they distributed iPads to kindergartners and fi rstgraders, Chromebooks to secondthrough sixth-graders and mobile hotspots to students without internet access at home. They also taught students how to access online learning platforms — sometimes with the help of translators, since 30% of students are refugees.

“Education has to be equitable,” says Megan Axtman of Taft Elementary School in Boise, Idaho.

At Robert Chalwell’s school for the arts in California, “we’re … doing a little bit of the impossible.”

COURTESY OF

COURTESY

MEGAN

OF ROBERT

AXTMAN

CHALWELL

“Education, in general, has to be equitable,” Axtman says. “This means … making sure that the child’s circumstances are not obstacles to achieving their educational potential.”

THE SHOW MUST GO ON “All the world’s a stage,” William Shakespeare famously wrote. But where can you perform when the world’s staying home?

That was the question facing Contra Costa School of the Performing Arts in Walnut Creek, California. A public charter school for secondary students interested in arts, it’s the kind of place that thrives on creativity and community — both of which are challenged by the school’s current online format.

“As creators and creators in training, our inspiration comes directly from our lived experiences as parts of the diverse communities we belong to. For months,

our ability to engage fully with those communities has been restricted,” says principal Robert Chalwell. “But for many artists, the experience of being restricted has, in its own way, inspired expressions of our creative selves.”

That sentiment is evident in students’ work. Voice students, for example, are training remotely with noted a capella singer Deke Sharon and working toward staging a live-streamed choir concert.

Dance students, meanwhile, will perform solo at outdoor venues, then document their growth by juxtaposing recordings of those performances with video of them practicing at home through distance learning.

As for community, students have it covered thanks to virtual spirit weeks with themed days like “Throwback Thursday,” during which students dressed in the style of their favorite decade and sang karaoke via Zoom.

“Many of our students … were initially convinced that robust and responsive See LEARNING, Page 32

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Everyone needs a home office these days: Sixth-grader Malik Gordon sits through a lesson at home in Nashville, Tennessee. Malik, a student at Nashville Classical Charter School, is continuing to adapt to the challenges of remote learning with the assistance of his mother, Victoria Gordon. ANDREW NELLES / THE TENNESSEAN

Learning Continued from Page 30

school community could not be achieved) in a distance learning model,” Chalwell says. “We’re … doing a little bit of the impossible.”

A LESSON IN CONNECTION At Hercules Middle School in Hercules, California, seventh-grade world history teacher Joseph Glatzer teaches about great wars, ancient civilizations

Middle school history teacher Joseph Glatzer says some students open up more on Zoom chat that when in person.

COURTESY OF JOSEPH GLATZER

and powerful rulers.

This year, however, the most important thing he’s teaching is how to stay connected in a disconnected world.

“Even during regular times, middle school can be a challenging, transitional period in life. So, I try to put myself in their shoes,” Glatzer says. “I try to embody the things I liked the most about all my teachers … and good communication is very high on that list.”

Glatzer’s district, the West Contra Costa Unifi ed School District, remains 100% virtual this fall. Teachers stay connected to students through virtual homerooms and offi ce hours. During the former, students complete anonymous surveys about their emotions and dis-

cuss topics such as empathy and anxiety.

During the latter, they build rapport with teachers and get help with assignments.

For Glatzer, the most impactful connections often occur during regular classes — and that’s because of the online format, not in spite of it.

“I have found that some students are more comfortable opening up a bit in the chat versus saying (their feelings) out loud,” says Glatzer, who plans to keep Zoom chats open even when students are in the classroom with him again, so introverts who thrive in that medium can continue doing so. “I take my responsibility as an educator very seriously. It’s See LEARNING, Page 34

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Nicole Wells sends love to her third-grade students at Oglethorpe Avenue Elementary school in Athens, Georgia.

The school’s principal, Bipul Singh, says it has been an adjustment to have teachers in the building giving lessons that he can hear as he walks the halls, but with no accompanying student sounds.

“The kids are here but not here.”

Learning Continued from Page 32

not just about teaching the history curriculum. It’s also about supporting students’ social-emotional learning and giving them a safe space to discuss how they feel about distressing things happening in the world.”

FROM ILLNESS, INNOVATION If necessity is the mother of invention, the pandemic’s silver lining might be the birth of something teachers have always wanted: smaller classes.

So says Stephanie Musser, founder and CEO of Candeo Schools, which operates public K-8 charter schools in Peoria and Scottsdale, Arizona. Although Musser spent the summer planning in earnest, Candeo’s fall reopening didn’t come into focus until the 11th hour, when she conceived its new “Integrated OnCampus Learning” model, wherein students attend school onsite for three weeks out of every month, then spend one week learning at home.

“This integrated approach allows us to operate at a maximum of 75% capacity each day while aff ording students a solid block of instruction in person,” Musser says. Class sizes have been reduced to 16 or fewer people, giving students more opportunities to engage with teachers and lessons while also facilitating social distancing and campus cleanliness. “The positive outcomes for both students and public health are evident.”

Parents are more engaged, too, as families that share the same distancelearning week have forged community in the form of “Parent Pods.”

“Our hope is that everyone gets to know the families who share distance weeks and fi nd ways to gather, learn together and support one another,” Musser says. She hopes that the model will become a permanent option at Candeo.

“I believe disruptive times like these are breeding grounds for innovation, and I get giddy when I think of the possibilities,” she says.

JOSHUA L. JONES/ USA TODAY NETWORK

EXERCISING INGENUITY Distance learning has taught students to exercise their minds from home. What kids need now more than ever, however, is to exercise their bodies, says Brian Nassif, a physical education teacher at

Plastic shields atop tables help provide a bit of hygienic separation in an art classroom at Liberty Common Elementary in Fort Collins, Colorado.

BETHANY BAKER / THE COLORADOAN

San Diego’s Albert Einstein Academies, a public K-8 charter school that has continued with distance learning this fall.

“For many, it took being separated from others, being stuck inside and not having P.E., recess and sports to realize the importance that all of these experiences play in the quality of our lives,” Nassif says. “The challenges that result from being stuck in front of screens without real social interaction are now clear to us all; it’s right there in our living rooms.”

To keep remote students active, Nassif has combined apps like HomeCourt — which uses artifi cial intelligence to teach and track athletic movements in a gamifi ed fashion — with a makeshift green screen (i.e., a green bedsheet) and video

editing software. The result is interactive video lessons that he posts on YouTube, where students can watch and follow along. So far, he’s taught everything from line dancing and jumping rope to throwing and striking.

When skills require special equipment that students might not have at home, he improvises. To practice underhand tennis serves, for example, he instructed students to hit balled-up socks into laundry baskets with shoes.

“When this all started, a little extra screen time didn’t seem like a big deal.

But now that it’s gone on for so long, we’re starting to see the eff ects on students’ emotions, motivation and happiness,” Nassif says. “We need to get our kids moving and playing again.”

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A lab tech checks samples collected for COVID-19 testing at a diagnostic center in Mumbai, India. Early coronavirus tests needed to go to a lab to determine the results.

Then came point-of-care tests administered by health professionals. The next step is tests people can take themselves at home. INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

A whole lot riding on quick home tests Multiple companies moving forward, but federal standards are hard to meet Ken Alltucker and Ramon Padilla USA TODAY

Nearly two months after federal regulators unveiled the rules that would guide approval of at-home coronavirus tests, no company had gotten the OK to sell these quick, cheap tests even though the technology is ready.

Molecular PCR tests processed at medical labs remain the standard of accurate testing, but they are expensive, and results can take days to process.

Antigen tests are less expensive and more plentiful and deliver results in minutes. Three companies gained Food and Drug Administration authorization to sell antigen testing instruments to labs or clinics. A fourth company won ap-

proval to market a $5 rapid test administered by a health care professional.

But no company has been cleared to sell tests directly to consumers for widespread screening — a step some experts believe is necessary to slow the spread of the virus that has killed more than 230,000 Americans and upended nearly every aspect of daily life.

“The way to get this under control is if people fi nd out as early as possible they are infected and then quarantine,” said Yukari Manabe, a Johns Hopkins University professor of medicine.

See TESTS, Page 40

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“The big question that is present in the industry is how will at-home approval be viewed by the FDA?” Anthony Lemmo CEO of BioDot

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How a PCR COVID-19 test works Experts say PCR tests that detect the virus’s genetic material are the most accurate to detect low levels of the virus. But these tests are processed by labs that need trained workers and sufficient chemical supplies. If there’s a shortage of supplies or workers, test results are delayed. Some major commercial labs took a week or longer to process tests in July, delivering results of little use for consumers.

How the test is administered:

1. The patient is

Tests

swabbed deep in the nose.

Continued from Page 38

The United States needs 30 million tests a week to adequately track the virus and protect vulnerable residents, according to the Rockefeller Foundation.

Labs have worked around the clock to produce more tests over the past six months. Even so, the nation reached 1 million daily tests for the fi rst time only in mid-September, about one quarter of the foundation’s recommended goal of more than 4 million tests each day, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

Testing in many states and clinics is limited to people known to have been exposed to the virus or showing symptoms.

Routine screening could prevent the spread among people who have the virus but don’t have any symptoms. If people test themselves before going to work, restaurants or school, it could signifi cantly reduce transmission.

The eff ort to screen people without symptoms is monumental, said Stephen Tang, president and chief executive offi cer of OraSure Technologies.

“We’ve never had this kind of undertaking in our history,” Tang said.

Rapid test studies underway With labs stretched to their limits, the extra capacity must come from companies that make portable antigen tests.

Large and small companies alike are working toward that goal.

Researchers from 3M and MIT teamed up to develop a rapid, paper-based test.

Researchers said the goal is to develop a “point-of-care test” that could deliver quick results outside a lab. Representatives of 3M and MIT declined to say whether they plan to make a test for consumers to use at home.

In August, Illinois-based Abbott Laboratories became the fi rst company to gain approval for a rapid antigen test using “lateral fl ow” technology, similar to a pregnancy test. The U.S. Department of See TESTS, Page 42

2. The swab is put in a tube, broken off and sealed.

3. The sample is sent to a lab to be analyzed. This can take several days.

4. In the lab, a technician adds primers and nucleotides to the sample. These primers bind to the ribonucleic acid (RNA) of the virus. The nucleotides reproduce the virus’s genetic material.

5. The sample is added to a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) machine that heats and cools, causing the virus RNA to split and bind to the nucleotides multiplying in the process.

6. The virus RNA, multiplied millions of times, makes it easier to identify. The data is plotted on a curve, and from that curve, results are determined.

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How Abbott’s antigen test works

Tests Continued from Page 40

Health and Human Services will spend $750 million to buy 150 million of the credit-card–size test kits.

The test must be administered by a health care professional such as a physician’s assistant or a school nurse. An Abbott spokeswoman declined to say whether the company will seek FDA authorization to sell a home version.

Several other companies are working on home tests people could buy without a prescription or a doctor’s referral.

OraSure sells a rapid HIV test at retailers such as CVS, Walgreens and Walmart. The company has developed a rapid antigen test now in clinical studies. It expects to sell directly to consumers before the end of 2020.

Abbott’s BinaxNow is an antigen test that can deliver results in 15 minutes. The antigen tests, which detect proteins, are often less sensitive than PCR tests. But some argue antigen tests, which can produce results in minutes and are less expensive, can identify when a person is infectious and most likely to pass the virus to others.

How the test is administered:

1. The health care worker opens the card and lays it flat on a countertop, and an extraction reagent is added to the test card, which is about the size of a credit card.

5. The adhesive cover is removed and the card is closed.

Approval isn’t easy Gaining FDA authorization for these inexpensive, at-home tests is no easy task. Under the agency’s template, released July 29, the FDA said at-home tests should correctly identify positive cases at least 90% of the time. That sensitivity threshold is higher than antigen tests the agency has authorized for point-of-care tests or lab settings.

The agency also wants companies to conduct studies on how tests work on patients. The FDA recommends studies with at least 150 people, of which at least 30 people test positive for the virus.

Two companies, Gauss and Cellex, announced a rapid antigen test being studied in clinical trials. Gauss developed an app with detailed instructions for users. Cellex’s rapid antigen test has demonstrated nearly 90% sensitivity, close to the FDA’s minimum standards.

E25Bio of Cambridge, Massachusetts, is testing its antigen test on people without symptoms at a co-working space in the Boston area. The company already has applied to market its rapid antigen test as a diagnostic that can be used at labs. The company wants to gather enough data to apply for at-home testing, said Carlos-Henri Ferré, its director of operations and communications.

Ferré said the FDA’s template for home tests requires a sensitivity level higher than other forms of antigen testing. “If we’re talking about a screening device, the parameters don’t need to be See TESTS, Page 44

2. A nasal swab is taken from both nostrils.

6. After 15 minutes, the results are displayed on the front. One line displayed is negative, two is positive.

7. One line displayed is 3. The swab is insterted into the

negative, two is positive.

bottom hole and pushed upward until it’s visible in the top hole.

4. The swab is turned clockwise three times.

Cont Control ntro roll ro

Cont Co ntro nt roll ro

Samp Sa Sample mple mp le

Samp Sa mple mp le

NEGATIVE

POSITIVE

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Tests Continued from Page 42

the same as an ultimate diagnostic test,” he said. “We hope the (FDA’s) language would change and refl ect what we’re creating, which is a screening tool for public health.”

Lower sensitivity may not matter Experts say PCR tests that detect the virus’ genetic material are the most accurate to detect low levels of the virus.

But these tests are processed by labs that need trained workers and suffi cient chemical supplies. If there’s a shortage of supplies or workers, test results are delayed. Some major commercial labs were taking a week or longer to process tests in July, delivering results that were of little use.

The antigen tests, which detect proteins, are often less sensitive than PCR tests. But some argue that antigen tests, which can produce results in minutes and are less expensive, can identify when a person is infectious and most likely to pass the virus to others.

“From a public health standpoint, the lower sensitivity might not matter if your point is to take people who are infected out of circulation,” Manabe said. “Because you are probably going to fi nd all the people with a relatively high viral load using the antigen test.”

But the FDA also must evaluate other factors, such as how results from antigen tests are publicly reported to health offi cials. State and local health departments might not know when someone tests positive or when to dispatch workers to trace the contact of infected individuals.

National Guard troops work at a test site in Milwaukee. Multiple companies are seeking approval for a test people can take at home, without needing a health professional to administer it or a lab to evaluate it. MIKE DE SISTI/MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL

‘Feels like a big hole’ More than 20 states could not track or do not disclose data on rapid antigen tests, leaving public health offi cials unable to know the true spread of the virus, Kaiser Health News reported.

Manabe said the FDA’s stance on athome testing is an “evolving situation” that might require test developers to use an app or cloud-based service to track test results. Still, requiring consumers to log into an app and voluntarily report their test results might be ineff ective.

Testing industry offi cials want to know how the FDA will require test manufacturers to track results “The big question that is present in

Abbott Laboratories’ rapid COVID-19 test is about the size of a credit card, costs just $5 and produces results in minutes. ABBOTT/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

the industry is how will at-home approval be viewed by the FDA?” said Anthony Lemmo, CEO of BioDot, a supplier for testing companies and test manufacturers. “To just go to CVS and buy it without this information being collected, from an epidemiological point of view, feels like a big hole.”

Abbott is pairing its rapid test with a mobile app that consumers could use if they need to show negative test results to enter places where people gather. The Gauss-Cellex test would require users to take their own nasal swab and scan the rapid test on a mobile app, which would inform the user of the test results.

Peter Pitts, a former FDA associate commissioner and co-founder of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, said the FDA must consider the benefi ts of speed, accuracy and reliability when evaluating any test or product.

“The only thing worse than no data or no testing is bad data based on bad testing,” Pitts said. “It sends us into the wrong direction. It compromises people’s faith in the system, and it doesn’t provide anything useful.”

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A nurse prepares a dose of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine July 27 in Binghamton, New York, as the National Institutes of Health and drugmaker Moderna began testing the vaccine on volunteers. “I’m excited to be part of something like this. This is huge,” said one volunteer, Melissa Harting, 36, a nurse. HANS PENNINK/AP

A dose of hope As scientists push to develop a vaccine, future of the world rests in their hands Matt Alderton

Special to USA TODAY

Companies large and small are working overtime to deliver the only thing that can truly end the COVID-19 pandemic: a vaccine.

The eff ort calls to mind another crash project six decades ago that similarly tested the country’s scientifi c mettle.

On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy set a goal of landing humans on the moon, and return them safely, by the end of the decade. It was inspiring, but also audacious: At that time, the longest an American had ever spent in space was 15 minutes and 22 seconds. Still, the country rallied behind Kennedy’s mad-

cap mission. And in July 1969, it met the deadline with months to spare.

In January 2020, Merriam-Webster fi nally updated its dictionary defi nition of moon shot to mean not just an actual space voyage but also “an extremely ambitious project or mission undertaken to achieve a monumental goal.” The timing was apropos, because the United States soon launched a brand-new moon shot whose endgame is an altogether diff erent kind of shot — a shot in the arm.

The Defense Department and the DeSee VACCINE, Page 47

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A volunteer receives an experimental COVID-19 vaccine made by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a division of Johnson & Johnson. CHERYL GERBER/JOHNSON & JOHNSON

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partment of Health and Human Services launched “Operation Warp Speed” in May 2020 with a goal to develop, manufacture and deliver at scale a vaccine to inoculate the U.S. public against SARSCoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

While NASA had nearly a decade to execute its moon shot, however, Warp Speed’s deadline was set at January

“We don’t view ourselves as competing with our peers to develop and deliver a safe and effective vaccine to combat COVID-19.

Together, we’re competing against the virus.”

Jennifer Taubert

executive vice president and worldwide chairman of Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceuticals business

2021. At press time, it remained to be seen whether it would be met.

“We know from experience that the best way to protect people from infectious diseases is with vaccines that enable them to mount their own immune response,” says immunology expert Mary Premenko-Lanier, a research scientist at SRI International. “It’s the No. 1 public health tool we have.”

While Americans wait with bated breath behind millions of face masks, the government’s private-sector partners search with unprecedented urgency for a silver bullet. Most of them will probably fail. That’s just the nature of the re-

search. If scientists’ confi dence and conviction are any indication, however, at least some will succeed.

This is a portrait of vaccine vanguards and the mission that motivates them in the face of extraordinary stress, stakes and scrutiny.

Innovations in immunity Researchers are developing and testing nearly 200 diff erent potential vaccines, according to the World Health Organization. From those, HHS and the See VACCINE, Page 52

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Pentagon initially selected 14 of the most promising to get about $10 billion in federal support. The government has since winnowed its list to a handful of companies, each of which has received funding for the manufacture and distribution of at least 100 million vaccine doses.

To date, most vaccines have been one of two kinds: h Killed vaccines, which use inactive pathogens to help the body recognize and fi ght off infections. Seasonal fl u shots are killed vaccines. h Live-attenuated vaccines, which use weakened versions of germs to build natural immunity. The “MMR” vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella is one of these vaccines.

However, the eff orts that Operation Warp Speed has funded — by Moderna;

by Pfi zer in partnership with BioNTech;

by AstraZeneca in partnership with the University of Oxford; by Johnson & Johnson; by Novavax; and by Sanofi in partnership with GlaxoSmithKline — are taking an entirely diff erent approach.

Although each enterprise is using its own technique, all six of their test vaccines work basically the same way: They use weakened or benign viruses, like cold viruses, to penetrate human cells.

There, the viruses have been engineered either to introduce a unique coronavirus antigen or to instruct cells to create their own, thereby activating the body’s natural immune response.

“Classical vaccines are very good at inducing immune responses and very good at protection, but the testing is very rigorous, and they take a long time to make,” Premenko-Lanier says. The new techniques are faster and easier. “The alternative approaches we’re seeing now have been under development for a long time, but very few of them have ever been approved for an actual vaccine. …

What we’re witnessing is scientifi c innovation converging with a novel pathogen in a way that I think is very inspiring.”

Prescription: Teamwork The alternative approaches might be quicker, but they’re not necessarily better. In fact, most of them activate only one aspect of the immune system: antiSee VACCINE, Page 54

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the nation’s top infectious diseases official, gives a Senate committee an update on vaccine development in September. GRAEME JENNINGS/POOL VIA GETTY IMAGES

Vaccine update: How close is it?

‘Warp Speed’ contenders are now in human trials Before they can obtain government approval, experimental vaccines must undergo a rigorous process to prove their safety and eff ectiveness.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, that process starts with testing vaccines under microscopes, then in animals. After that come three phases of clinical trials with human test subjects, each of which gets progressively larger in scale.

Finally, the FDA reviews evidence in favor of a vaccine before approving it, at which point it begins a fi nal phase of study to confi rm the vaccine’s long-term

viability while the public consumes it.

As part of Operation Warp Speed, the U.S. government has funded six promising vaccine candidates from nearly 200 contenders. Here’s where each of those projects stands: h AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford commenced a Phase 3 clinical trial in the United States in August, but paused it in September to investigate a test subject’s adverse reaction. The clinical trial resumed in late October in the United States, as it had elsewhere, including in the United Kingdom, India, Brazil and South Africa. h Johnson & Johnson launched a Phase 3 clinical trial in September, but paused it in October to examine a volunteer’s adverse reaction. The trial re-

sumed in late October. h Moderna began a Phase 3 clinical trial in July and expects to have results by the end of 2020 or in early 2021. h Novavax initiated a Phase 3 clinical trial in the United Kingdom in September and was expected to do the same in the United States by the end of November, according to the company. h Pfi zer and BioNTech launched a combined Phase 2/3 clinical trial in July and were expected to have results soon; at press time, results were still pending. h Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline started a combined Phase 1/2 clinical trial in September and expect to advance to a Phase 3 trial in December.

— Matt Alderton

USA TODAY SPECIAL EDITION

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Vaxart’s oral vaccine is designed to block the virus at the point of infection. It’s not among those getting a boost from the federal “Operation Warp Speed.” VAXART

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bodies, which bind to specifi c pathogens and prevent them from causing the disease. Evidence so far suggests that longterm COVID-19 immunity might require a holistic response that encompasses not only antibodies, which disappear over time, but also T-cells, which are stronger, longer-lasting and can actually kill virus-infected cells in order to stop infections from spreading.

“Some patients — the elderly, for example, patients with comorbidities and people who are immunocompromised — might need an extra layer of protection,”

says Jeff Wolf, founder and CEO of Heat Biologics. His company is developing its own vaccine candidate that’s designed to work in tandem with other vaccines by activating T-cells while they generate antibodies.

“In theory, at least, these novel vaccines might be more eff ective if they’re put together,” Premenko-Lanier says.

“So instead of one vaccine, we might have multiple.”

Having multiple vaccines promotes redundancy as well as effi cacy. “Not every vaccine will succeed. To reach our goal, many diff erent vaccines must be tested in clinical trials in parallel,” says Sean Tucker, founder, chief scientifi c offi cer and vice president of research at Vaxart, which is developing an oral COVID-19 vaccine that would block the coronavirus at the point of infection — the

mucosal lining in the nose and mouth.

“Advancing multiple vaccines ensures that even if some candidates hit some unexpected obstacles … other candidates might still be able to be tested and proven effi cacious in a timely manner.”

If Operation Warp Speed succeeds, that collaborative spirit will be one of the reasons why, says Jennifer Taubert, executive vice president and worldwide chairman of Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceuticals business. “We believe multiple companies working simultaneously to end this public health crisis is the right approach,” Taubert says. “We don’t view ourselves as competing with our peers to develop and deliver a safe and eff ective vaccine to combat COVID-19. Together, we’re competing against the virus.”

As further evidence of their collaborative approach, the CEOs of Johnson &

Johnson, AstraZeneca, BioNTech, Moderna, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novavax, Pfi zer and Sanofi signed a pledge in September to reject scientifi c and regulatory shortcuts, and to seek FDA approval only if and when their vaccine candidates have been fully vetted.

“Ultimately, while we’re working with a sense of urgency, developing a safe and eff ective vaccine remains our No. 1 priority,” Taubert says.

Collaboration with academia, clinicians and government is equally essential. In order to deliver a vaccine quickly, for example, vaccine makers must expedite manufacturing and distribution.

That’s where the feds come in, according to medical researcher Henry Miller, who founded the FDA’s Offi ce of BiotechnolSee VACCINE, Page 55

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ogy and is now a fellow at California’s Pacifi c Research Institute. Companies that are funded by Operation Warp Speed, he says, are using public assistance to build the production infrastructure they’ll need before they need it.

“Companies — often with the aid of government largesse — have scaled up to produce hundreds of millions of doses before they even know if they have a safe and eff ective vaccine,” Miller says. “Ordinarily, vaccine development is very sequential. You do pre-clinical trials, which are animal studies; then you do Phase 1, 2 and 3 clinical trials; then you crunch the data and submit it to the FDA, which crunches the data again and, in the best of worlds, approves the product.

“Then, and only then, does the company invest hundreds of millions of dollars into bricks-and-mortar facilities to produce large amounts of the product.

Here, that last step is occurring earlier.”

Johnson & Johnson, for one, has received $1 billion from HHS to support expedited vaccine production. “Vaccine development is complex,” Taubert says.

“During this process, we’ve been able to progress some of our development activities in parallel, such as increasing our manufacturing capacity at the same time that we’re conducting our large clinical trials.”

Those clinical trials are yet another challenge that benefi ts from teamwork.

“A vaccine study is not complete until a certain number of people get naturally infected with the virus,” Tucker explains.

“Once that number is reached, researchers can determine whether fewer people who received the vaccine developed an infection or illness.”

In other words, a vaccine can be shown as eff ective only if it’s tested on a critical mass of volunteers, and recruiting those volunteers can be as herculean an eff ort as creating the vaccine in the fi rst place. Vaccine makers must therefore partner closely with experienced clinical research sites to recruit and manage the test subjects they need.

“We have two locations that are serving as test sites for COVID-19 vaccine trials, and we have three or four times the resources committed to those trials compared to what we would have on a traditional vaccine study,” says David Morin, director of comprehensive clinical re-

A vial holds an experimental vaccine at Novavax in Gaithersburg, Maryland. ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

search at Holston Medical Group in Kingsport, Tennessee. “Our research coordinators and investigators are working overtime to get folks safely through the clinical trial process. They’re experienced, they’re dedicated and they’re charged-up.”

People over profi ts Clearly, myriad stars must align to make a COVID-19 vaccine a reality. Scientists’ “charged-up” enthusiasm, however, might just be the clincher.

Like bus drivers, grocery clerks, nurses and so many others deemed essential workers, scientists have had to go to work under dangerous circumstances while others stay at home. They’ve had to negotiate child care and distance

learning for their children. They’ve had to innovate new, socially-distant ways of operating inside cramped laboratories, working nights and weekends at increased speed with less space and fewer staff . And they’ve had to do it all with the weight of the world on their shoulders.

Still, they’ve done it, says Todd Zion, co-founder, president and CEO of Akston Biosciences, which hopes to commence a Phase 1 clinical trial for its own vaccine candidate before the end of the year.

“Never before have I seen a team in any capacity unite around a cause so aggressively and in a way that is so selfsacrifi cing,” he says. “I think it speaks to the fact that we’ve all been aff ected by this pandemic; when it comes down to it, people just want to roll up their

sleeves and be part of a team that’s doing something.”

Of course, there’s money to be made, as well. But not much.

“Nobody gets rich off of vaccines,” says Miller, who points out that a COVID-19 vaccine probably will be taken only once and will be priced for mass consumption — between $4 and $37 per dose, according to media reports. “That’s peanuts in the pharmaceutical world.”

Wolf agrees. Scientists aren’t running themselves ragged to produce a vaccine in record time for pennies, he insists; they’re doing it for people. “If you asked us to really search within our souls, the reason most of us are working on this is so we can bring life back to the way it was before,” he says. “It’s about saving lives, and making lives better.”

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New Jersey physician Alexander Salerno took COVID testing out into the community with a van he turned into a mobile clinic. SALERNO MEDICAL ASSOCIATES

Heroes Kindness of everyday Americans makes it all a little more bearable Ellen Wiessner

Special to USA TODAY

ALEXANDER SALERNO Newark, New Jersey Dr. Alexander Salerno has been treating low-income patients for years as a primary care physician in northeastern New Jersey, where he has offi ces in Orange, East Orange and Newark.

In March, when he started treating exclusively COVID-19 patients, he installed pop-up tents outside his offi ces. His clinicians are still using those tents to conduct triage, testing and treatment.

Knowing the danger of “silent spreaders,” asymptomatic people who transmit the virus without knowing it, Salerno decided to test everyone he could.

And since many people in low-income communities lack transportation to get to a doctor’s offi ce, he spent $42,000 on a van that he turned into a mobile clinic.

He uses it to conduct tests on streets, outside senior housing and at churches.

He and his team have tested more than See HEROES, Page 57

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In Minneapolis, Josh Savage, left, and his technicians handed out flowers to brighten their customers’ moods. HERO PLUMBING, HEATING AND COOLING

Heroes

leave. You hunker down and fi ght. So that’s what we did when COVID-19 hit,” Salerno said.

Continued from Page 56

BRENT SHEHORN Waco, Texas

24,000 people in some of New Jersey’s hardest-hit areas.

“Testing is really important, and it has to be done in every nook and cranny of our communities,” Salerno said.

The doctor inherited his practice, Salerno Medical Associates, from his parents, who established it in the 1950s. Unlike many businesses that fl ed Newark after its race riots in 1967, the Salernos decided to stay in the community.

“My parents taught me that when the going gets tough, you don’t get up and

COVID-19 has made life diffi cult. But also, death. Because of state-mandated restrictions or bans on large gatherings, funerals across the country have had to be kept small or skipped entirely, adding catharsis and closure to the list of commodities in short supply during the pandemic.

But thanks to funeral directors like Brent Shehorn, owner of Lake Shore Funeral Home & Crematory in Waco, Texas, families and friends didn’t have to forgo farewells entirely. When the pandemic

reached Waco, Shehorn began off ering families the opportunity to livestream funeral services on the internet, and to host socially distant Brent drive-thru visitations.

Shehorn The visitations allowed mourners to “just pull up in the parking lot, roll down their windows and express their love,” Shehorn said. “It’s a parade of friends and family ... and it’s a really beautiful thing.”

Those drive-thrus have come to an end as Texas has largely reopened for business, he said. But the live-stream funerals, he said, have become a popular choice for families and are here to stay.

“I expect live streaming to become a permanent fi xture,” he said.

JOSH SAVAGE Minneapolis Plumbers are good at unclogging pipes and fi xing leaks, and they don’t typically arrive bearing fl owers.

But that’s what Josh Savage, owner of Hero Plumbing, Heating and Cooling in Minneapolis, chose to do when COVID-19 bore down on the Midwest.

Savage was buying fl owers for his wife at a grocery store when he realized that being in the fl oral department lifted his mood.

“This was at the beginning of the pandemic. … You could feel everyone’s fear around you,” he recalled.

In fact, he said, he decided to purSee HEROES, Page 58

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chase extra fl owers to give to his neighbors. “I ended up buying $350 worth of fresh-cut fl owers,” he said. “The cashier thought I was nuts.”

On his way home, it dawned on him that if his wife and neighbors enjoyed receiving fl owers, so would his customers.

He called a friend in the fl oral business and arranged to buy fl owers that he and his technicians gave customers, neighbors and even random strangers, which they did from April through June.

“Receiving fl owers as an unexpected gift makes customers feel instantly better about their day, and about what’s going on in the world,” Savage said. He and his technicians eventually handed out more than 4,000 blooms. “It also helps the technicians; when they see a customer’s face light up, it makes all their problems go away, too.”

Customers liked the bright and cheery Gerber daisies best, he said.

ANTHONY NICKELE Los Angeles Anthony Nickele, a traveling nurse who specializes in intensive care, thought he would spend a few pleasant months working in California and avoid a cold Northeast winter.

“Before you know it, we were all trapped there doing COVID response,” he said. He quickly put his experience as a trauma nurse in the Bronx to good use at the COVID Intensive Care Unit at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

“We hit the ground running,” he said, as Cedars Sinai became a receiving center for Southern California’s most critical COVID patients.

“The helicopters just keep bringing in these really, really sick patients,” he said.

“It was really humbling to see. The physicians and the researchers and the nurses there were so ready and so willing to do anything they could to help improve the lives of these patients.”

When a patient would recover enough to be moved out of the ICU, he said: “We would celebrate. It would be like a parade when they were being wheeled out of the unit.”

The toughest part was treating patients who were isolated from their families due to the highly contagious virus.

Social worker Anne Shea was there for her colleagues at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. COURTESY OF ANNE SHEA

“The hardest thing is when you’re with someone who’s dying, and you can’t help their family through it,” Nickele said. “I’ve always treated end-of-life situations in terms of ‘OK, let me make this patient incredibly comfortable and their families incredibly comfortable around them.’ When you can’t do that, it’s scary.”

7. ANNE SHEA New York Even the most even-keeled person can fi nd the coronavirus upsetting. For those whose lives are already unsettled or vulnerable, it can be far worse.

Anne Shea is an inpatient psychiatric social worker at New York City’s Bellevue Hospital, the oldest public hospital in the country. She treats adults with severe disorders like schizophrenia, depression and psychosis.

Struggling patients were hit hard when services they relied upon were suspended or discontinued due to the COVID-19 lockdown, she said.

“Your psychiatrist appointment that you go to once a month — you’re not going to because it’s closed for COVID. The team that comes to see you and give you treatment in the shelter is not there anymore. Everyone’s doing tele-health, but if you’re street-homeless, you don’t have a phone to FaceTime your doctor,” she said. “There was nowhere for these patients to go.”

Shea worked nights at a respite room set up for Bellevue staff , from janitors to surgeons, during the height of the COVID-19 crisis. The respite room provided a comfortable haven, with yoga and meditation to music and snacks, and it was staff ed nearly around-the-clock by hospital social workers.

“I had regulars who came in every shift to talk about their day,” Shea said. “I had people who would come in and cry and just need a place to vent or talk.”

The respite room opened in March and scaled back its operations in August, she said. However, “it’s prepped and ready to go if there’s another surge or we need it again.”

JESSICA FRANZ Pocono Mountain, Pennsylvania Starting school is a special moment for young children, and kindergarten teacher Jessica Franz wanted that for her students this year, despite the obstacles posed by COVID-19.

So like teachers across the country, she put in countless hours adapting her See HEROES, Page 62

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Jeramy Ragsdale, CEO of Thrive Senior Living, assembles one of the clear panels that allow community residents and visitors to interact safely. THRIVE SENIOR LIVING

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lessons and her classroom. Her 25 students attend a combination of remote and in-person classes, the learning model adopted by her district in Pocono Mountain, Pennsylvania, for the fall.

“My goal has always been ‘I want kids to love school.’ It’s not so much what they learn their fi rst year with me. It’s ‘Do they want to continue learning? Do they want to come to school?’ ” she said.

“I want the smile on their face. I want

Kindergarten teacher Jessica Franz, like many others, had to revise her approach. COURTESY OF JESSICA FRANZ

the excitement over what story are we going to read next.”

Under the cloud of COVID-19, a big challenge was making kindergarten lessons and classwork easy for children and their families to use from home.

“My kids are 5,” Franz said. “My kids can’t read directions. My kids aren’t going to be able to input 15 diff erent passwords.”

When COVID broke out in March, she said, students and teachers went home on a Friday afternoon, not realizing that school would be over for the semester.

“We never saw them again. That was really hard,” she said. “Now I’ll still see my kids four days a week, whether it’s in person or on the computer screen.”

7. JERAMY RAGSDALE Atlanta With older adults especially at risk from COVID-19, Atlanta-based Thrive Senior Living made the decision in March to stop allowing visitors at the 17 senior living communities it operates in eight states.

“While closing the communities to visitors was unquestionably the right thing to do,” chief executive Jeramy Ragsdale said, the decision was also heartbreaking. Spouses were separated, sons and daughters were kept from their parents, and grandchildren couldn’t See HEROES, Page 64

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come to see grandparents. Many family members pleaded with him for a way to connect with their loved ones.

Ragsdale came up with the idea of installing clear plexiglass barriers that would allow residents and visitors to meet face to face safely while talking by phone. Further, he rolled up his sleeves and started installing them himself along with his team and his father.

The panels were designed to fi t inside the front doors of each senior living community, Ragsdale said. “I enlisted the help of my dad, who is more skilled in this area, and we designed the prototype on graph paper over the phone.”

Within 72 hours, Ragsdale had built 10 panels, and by early June he’d fi nished and installed 15.

He also has shared the plans for how to build the panels on the company’s website.

“Our hope is that it brings teams, families and friends a little bit closer,” he said. “The moments they’ve helped foster are truly magical.”

8. RAHEL TEFERRA Jeffersonville, Indiana As a physician at Clark Memorial Health in Jeff ersonville, Indiana, Rahel Teferra works on the frontmost lines treating COVID-19 patients, but she doesn’t stop there.

Teferra personally calls the loved ones of her patients, who are not allowed to visit because of the contagious nature of the deadly coronavirus.

“Families of these patients are scared,” she said. “Sometimes conversations are diffi cult and sad. … There are stressful conversations, like end-of-life discussions. It can be trying, but it has to be done.”

Because some COVID-19 patients spend more than a month sequestered in the hospital, the regular conversations give family members a sense of routine and connection, she said.

“Family members tell us about what kind of a person their loved ones are, what they did, what hobbies they had.

These conversations make me feel I know the person as more than just a patient in a hospital bed at their worst time in their lives,” Teferra said.

“Families feel reassured knowing that we can have a normal conversation with

Myron Laban uses art to inspire and uplift people in Chicago at a time when many are struggling. COURTESY OF MYRON LABAN

them — that there is a human being on the other side of the phone who is responsible for the care of their beloved.”

9. MYRON LABAN Libertyville, Illinois

Rahel Teferra checks in with patients’ families. COURTESY OF RAHEL TEFERRA

Myron Laban is a Walgreens pharmacist in Libertyville, Illinois, whose job is to dispense medicine. During the pandemic, he has been dispensing inspirational balm as well.

Laban paints motivational murals on Chicago’s North and West sides, fi nishing four in just the last couple of months.

“There are a lot of people struggling right now,” he said. “I use my art as a tool to remind others that they are worthy of

joy, love and a healthy life. I want people to fi nd hope in the art I create.

“It’s easy to forget these things when you’re in a dark place.”

Laban said he wants people to see themselves represented in art in a positive way. One of his murals depicts a small Black girl holding a pencil, with a skyline and fl owers in the background.

“I created the skyline because the kids in that neighborhood barely leave their block,” he said. “I also think it’s important for a little Black girl to see herself as intelligent and smart and represented in the art I make in their community. It's about uplifting communities with art at the end of the day.”

Matt Alderton contributed

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In Arizona, UA Local 469 isn’t just looking out for workers’ health on the job; it’s also won important benefi ts to help them protect their families. COURTESY OF UA LOCAL 469

Labor of love Unions are keeping essential workers safe during the pandemic so they can help rebuild the economy when it’s over Matt Alderton

Special to USA TODAY

In the days and weeks after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, more than 10,000 Americans volunteered to assist with cleanup and recovery at Ground Zero in New York City. Never mind the haunting sights they’d see — the gruesome remains of people and the shattered buildings — or the personal risks they’d face: toxic dust, falling debris and smoldering, unstable wreckage. When the logical reaction was to mourn, their gut instinct was to mobilize.

Along with copious amounts of courage, bravery, patriotism and compassion, there’s at least one thing that many of these intrepid volunteers had in common: They were union members.

“There were so many workers — unionized workers, in particular — who ran into the breach,” says Bob Bussel, director of the Labor Education and Research Center at the University of Oregon. “And it wasn’t just police and fi refi ghters. It was ironworkers, carpenters, painters and steelworkers, right on down the line. People came from all over the country to help with the aftermath, and you could see the union insignias on their T-shirts, jackets and caps.”

Next to the visual incendiarism that is terrorism, contagion feels almost benign. The former is loud and lurid; the Continued on next page

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Community spirit: UA Local 469 organized a socially distanced tribute to World War II veteran — and Local 469 member — Chalmer Shuff. COURTESY OF UA LOCAL 469

Continued from previous page

latter, invisible and vague. One slaps you square in the face; the other breathes quietly down your neck. The muted threat, however, can be just as lethal as the thunderous one. Or more so: While approximately 3,000 people died on 9/11, more than 230,000 Americans so far have died of COVID-19. Nevertheless, American workers have run toward the coronavirus in 2020 just as they ran toward the wreckage of the World Trade Center in 2001. Not because they’re reckless, but because they’re righteous.

“Because of the social roles they play, I’ve heard workers describe themselves as custodians, or stewards, of the public

“Going all the way back to mining accidents in the 19th century, unions have been instrumental in arguing for things like workers’ compensation and workplace regulation.”

Bob Bussel

director of the Labor Education and Research Center at the University of Oregon

good,” Bussel says. “When the nation is threatened, these are the people who step up.”

If workers are the ones who step up for the nation, then labor unions are the ones who step up for workers. How they’ve done so during the COVID-19 pandemic is a vivid illustration of the values that have helped America survive previous crises — and of the principles that will help it rebuild after this one.

Safety fi rst Unions’ fi rst responsibility is to their dues-paying members, whose safety has driven the union movement since its inception during the Industrial Revolution.

“Going all the way back to mining accidents in the 19th century, unions have

been instrumental in arguing for things like workers’ compensation and workplace regulation,” says Bussel, who cites the deadly Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fi re that killed 146 New York City garment workers in 1911 and spawned a decadeslong movement to establish the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which fi nally succeeded in 1971. “Occupational safety has been totally integral to unions’ mission, both then and now.”

Although unions’ mission is the same as it was back then, their grievances look diff erent thanks to new and diff erent occupational hazards. Instead of overcrowded factories and inadequate fi resafety codes, unions in the COVID era are concerned about the transmission of a See UNIONS, Page 68

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Chalmer Shuff’s Honor Flight to Washington, D.C., was canceled because of COVID-19, so UA Local 469 stepped in to salute his service. COURTESY OF UA LOCAL 469

Unions Continued from Page 67

communicable disease from customers and co-workers to grocery clerks, bus drivers, restaurant servers, hotel housekeepers, construction workers and other workers deemed essential.

Essential workers like 45-year-old Chad Neanover, a prep cook at Jimmy Buff ett’s Margaritaville restaurant at the Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Casino.

“I’m an asthmatic, and my wife, who’s a medical assistant, is diabetic. So we’re both in the higher-risk categories for COVID, which makes it very hard to want to

“We all take an oath when we join the union to assist unfortunate and distressed members.

It’s in our blood to take care of each other and to take care of our community.”

Aaron Butler

UA Local 469 business manager

go out into a work environment without (proper safety) protocols” Neanover says. “It was scary for a while, but then (the hospitality industry in Las Vegas adopted) mandatory temperature checks, masks and regular cleaning of high-touch surfaces, which has given us a little bit of relief.”

Neanover’s union — the UNITE HERE International Union, which represents more than 300,000 workers in the hotel, gaming, food service and airport industries — was instrumental in securing those protections, which were codifi ed into law by Nevada Senate Bill 4. Passed in August as the fi rst state law requiring comprehensive measures to protect employees and customers against the spread of COVID-19, Senate Bill 4 mandates enhanced cleaning, hand washing,

social distancing, masks and employee training, as well as employer-sponsored testing and contact tracing.

“Unions give workers power and a voice to stand up for what they deserve, whether that’s sitting at the bargaining table or walking a picket line. With COVID-19, we’ve had to do everything we can to … ensure that our members and their families stay safe and healthy,” says UNITE HERE president, D. Taylor. The union has drafted and shared safety standards with hospitality employers not only in Las Vegas, but across the United States and Canada, Taylor says.

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union represents 1.3 million workers in grocery and retail See UNIONS, Page 70

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Benefi ting the wider community as well: Members of UA Local 469 help distribute groceries at St. Mary’s Food Bank in Phoenix. COURTESY OF UA LOCAL 469

distancing measures and plexiglass barriers in grocery stores, and similar measures — plexiglass dividers, face shields, socially distanced lunch breaks and mandatory temperature checks, not to mention multilingual education, routine testing and contact tracing — at food processing and meatpacking plants.

“Given all the things we did, I believe we saved a lot of people from getting this disease. Not only our members, but also out in the community.”

Unions Continued from Page 68

stores, health care and manufacturing facilities, pharmacies, and food processing and packing plants — 340 of whom had died of COVID-19 as of September.

“Our very fi rst concern was that if essential workers in the food supply chain didn’t go to work, whether it was in food processing or retail food stores, our society would break down. Therefore, we had to make sure our members had the highest protections they could possibly have to ensure their safety,” union president Marc Perrone says. His organization helped secure mask mandates, social

Help in hard times

Frank Young, a member of UA Local 469, and his wife, Jessica, sew 700 face masks for union plumbers and pipefi tters. COURTESY OF UA LOCAL 469

Along with workers’ lives, unions have saved workers’ livelihoods.

Because some employees remained anxious — even with safety precautions in place — unions like UA Local 469, the Arizona chapter of the United Associa-

tion of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada (UA), negotiated terms with employers that allowed workers to take voluntary furloughs without losing their jobs.

“That’s something you don’t normally see in the construction industry,” says UA Local 469 business manager Aaron Butler. Those terms were critical not only for distressed workers, but also for workers with immunocompromised family members, Butler says. “I have one member whose wife had a double lung transplant about six months before COVID hit.

She was extremely high-risk. If he brought COVID home, she didn’t stand a chance. Because of the contract provisions we secured, this gentleman was See UNIONS, Page 72

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During the pandemic, the “essential workers” designation includes people like supermarket stocker Kaylee Guerrero in Lansing, Michigan. NICK KING/LANSING STATE JOURNAL

Unions Continued from Page 70

able to stay home and take care of his family without losing his job.”

UA Local 469 also expanded members’ health benefi ts to cover 100% of COVID-19 testing and treatment costs, increased weekly disability benefi ts for members who contracted the virus and made changes to its 401(k) plan to allow members to make increased penalty-free withdrawals of retirement savings due to COVID-related hardships.

IBEW Local 11, the Los Angeles chapter of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, has made similar off erings to its members, including supple-

“We’ve always felt it was our obligation to take care of the community, because we are the community.”

Joel Barton

IBEW Local 11 business manager

mental unemployment benefi ts for those who lost their jobs during the pandemic.

“We have a Supplemental Unemployment Benefi t Fund that’s about fi ve years old. Because that fund is in its infancy, it only provided $24 a week if you were out of work. Because of the pandemic, we increased that to $200 a week for apprentices and $300 a week for journeymen,” says IBEW Local 11 business manager Joel Barton. Workers can access the benefi t during the pandemic even if they opt

out of work by choice due to health anxiety or concern, Barton says.

Unions at the national level have made similar moves to protect workers’ fi nancial security. UNITE HERE, for example, has negotiated with employers to extend health coverage to laid-off workers and lobbied hard for the extension of federal unemployment benefi ts.

“At the beginning of the pandemic … we supported tens of thousands of members with information on how to apply for unemployment insurance; seek housing and food assistance; organize and run food banks; prevent evictions; and work with utility companies and make arrangement to cover other bills,” Taylor says. “We produced relief guides covering 23 states and four Canadian provinces. And we ran hotlines that handled more than 11,000 calls from members seeking relief and unemployment

help — (because) for most workers, this was their fi rst time navigating state unemployment systems that were, and remain, unhelpful.”

One of the biggest achievements for the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union during the pandemic has been hazard pay for essential workers, many of who have faced increased expenses during the pandemic — for child care, for example, since many schools and daycares were closed.

At the start of the pandemic, it secured bonuses, temporary wage increases or both for essential workers at Albertsons/Safeway, Kroger, Stop & Shop, Cargill, Hormel, JVS Foods, Conagra Brands, Seaboard Triumph Foods, J.M. Smucker, Kraft Heinz and Campbell Soup, among others.

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Some employers have since reduced or eliminated those benefi ts, which Perrone calls “disappointing.”

“In every economics class I’ve ever been in, it’s been said that those who take the most risk should be paid the most money,” Perrone says. Noting that grocery store sales rose 40% to 45% at the start of the pandemic and remain up by approximately 20%, he says, “In this particular case, shareholders aren’t taking the most risk. Workers are taking the most risk, so they deserve some of that profi t.”

Unions’ victories have yielded benefi ts for non-union workers, too. In order to remain competitive, Perrone points out, non-union employers like Walmart, Target and Amazon/Whole Foods also off ered pandemic hazard pay.

Bussel says, “The idea of trying to raise the fl oor for everybody — the sense that a rising tide lifts all boats — is pretty pervasive in the union movement’s DNA.”

Caring for community Unions haven’t just negotiated during the pandemic. They’ve also nurtured.

IBEW Local 11, for example, has hosted several grocery giveaways, including one in the spring that provided food to more than 2,500 families in Los Angeles and another over Labor Day weekend that fed approximately 3,500 more. On another occasion, one of its activist members, “Big John” Harriel, purchased and distributed hundreds of board games to parents and children in underserved communities who were quarantined at home, often with little to do.

“We’ve always felt it was our obligation to take care of the community, because we are the community,” Barton says.

The men and women of UA Local 469 feel the same way. Member Frank Young and his wife, Jessica, for example, made 700 masks to distribute to Local 469 workers in the fi eld. Another member, World War II veteran Chalmer Shuff , was supposed to be honored by the nonprofi t Honor Flight in March; when his fl ight to Washington, D.C., was canceled on account of the pandemic, more than 100 fellow union members organized an “Honor Drive” parade, during which they decorated their cars and drove by his home waving and honking in tribute.

The union also secured more than 1,500 N-95 masks that it donated to local

Any job that involves contact with the public potentially puts a worker in harm’s way. Server Tammie Bunker waits on customers at Kewpee's Restaurant in downtown Lansing, Michigan, in early October. MATTHEW DAE SMITH/LANSING STATE JOURNAL

fi refi ghters; distributed more than 500 emergency food boxes to hungry families during a grocery giveaway; established its own food pantry that collected and distributed thousands of items to members in need; and donated nonperishable food, household items and $2,500 in gift cards to the hard-hit Navajo Nation, where several of its members reside.

“We all take an oath when we join the union to assist unfortunate and distressed members,” Butler says. “It’s in our blood to take care of each other and to take care of our community.”

And to take care of the economy, too.

Unions — many of which have robust apprenticeship and training programs — stand ready to supply the talent America

will need as it pivots from COVID response to COVID recovery. All they ask in return, Perrone says, is appreciation, compassion and consideration.

“I think we as a country fi nally understand how signifi cant our workers are,” Perrone says. “They really are essential, and they deserve our respect. And, quite frankly, our gratitude.”

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Masks are on at Pannie George's Kitchen in Montgomery, Alabama, as the restaurant recognizes employees on Oct. 19. MICKEY WELSH/MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER

How is economy looking? Oh, K Pandemic has been great for some industries, catastrophic for others Joe Taschler

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

With apologies to “Sesame Street,” the U.S. economy has emerged from six months of the COVID-19 pandemic looking a lot like the letter “K.” Economic downturns and recoveries are commonly described using the letters of the alphabet that they resemble when plotted on a graph. A V-shaped recovery is a deep decline followed by a sharp rebound, an L-shaped recovery is a sharp drop followed by a long period of weak growth, and so on.

And now, a K. On the upward-sloping stroke of the K are businesses that benefi ted as Americans abandoned offi ces and classrooms, settled in at home and pretty much stayed there. They include grocery stores

and technology companies like Zoom and Amazon.

On the downward-sloping leg of the K are the airlines, restaurants and hotels that many people haven’t gone near for over six months.

In this K-shaped recovery, “you have pockets of the economy that start to recover at an accelerated rate and others that are going to be in decline for a much longer period of time,” said Tim Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce.

The contrast is stunning. Wisconsin off ers prime examples of the situation facing states across the country.

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Theresa Rueben, right, and her family visit Omni Cinemas 8 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on Oct. 9, the day the theater reopened. ANDREW CRAFT/THE FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER

Economy Continued from Page 76

“Depending on where you sit in the COVID economy, business could be booming or on the brink of bankruptcy,” Suzanne Clark, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement.

“Long gone is the notion that we’ll have a V-shaped recovery,” Clark said.

“Instead, what we’re looking at is a recovery that will be vigorous for some sectors while others remain in free-fall.”

The situation is unlike anything we’ve ever seen.

“Regarding the new normal, it’s still not 100% predictable as to what it will look like.”

James Hyland

Vice president for communications and public affairs for Kroger’s Milwaukee-based Roundy’s division

“We are in pretty uncharted economic territory,” said Laura Dresser, associate director of the Center on Wisconsin Strategy at the University of WisconsinMadison.

Social businesses lagging Forget about the business cycle or the bursting of fi nancial bubbles. This downturn came about because people were not able to gather, Dresser said.

Businesses built around in-person interaction remain in the doldrums.

“Countless companies in the travel, entertainment, leisure, hospitality and food service industries and other employers hit hardest by the crisis — hotels, restaurants, bars, movie theaters, music venues, sporting franchises — may face a

long and painful slog before they employ as many people as they did earlier this year,” Clark said.

The uneven nature of the recovery is evident among small businesses.

Loan applications coming in to the Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corp. have roughly doubled during the pandemic, said Wendy Baumann, president and CEO of that statewide economic development organization.

Her group is seeing the varying eff ects of the pandemic on the businesses in its loan portfolio. About half of them needed a little bit of support or had to slightly alter their business model, Baumann said.

A quarter are just fi ne. The remainder are really struggling, she said.

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Economy Continued from Page 78

And as businesses struggle, so do the people who work — or formerly worked — for them.

According to state numbers, the “service-providing sector” accounted for 240,400 of the 272,000 lost jobs since February in Wisconsin. Some of those jobs have come back. Some are gone permanently.

If you’re a worker in one of the declining segments, now is the time to make changes and set forth on a new career path, Sheehy said. Employers on the ascending leg of the K are counting on it, he added, because they will increasingly need new workers to replace babyboomer retirees.

“The question is, what do you do to reskill or up-skill or shift your career if you are in one of the industries that isn’t going to come back for three, four or fi ve years?” Sheehy said.

Tourism wilts, restaurants shaky Milwaukee was supposed to have enjoyed a blockbuster year for tourism, thanks to the Democratic National Convention and the usual summer festivals and events. Instead, occupancy at hotels averaged less than 40% in Milwaukee County through the fi rst half of the year.

Last year at this time, occupancy was around 70%.

Unlike in the spring, when occupancy dropped below 10%, some people are traveling. The Visit Milwaukee tourism and convention bureau anticipates that occupancy will continue to grow through the end of the year, said Kristin Settle, senior director of communications and public aff airs for the organization.

Still, business travel has not yet returned. Neither have big events. Around 100 events that Visit Milwaukee was involved in were canceled or postponed in 2020. Already, some events have canceled or postponed for 2021, Settle said.

The haves and have-nots of the economic recovery are clearly refl ected in the restaurant business.

Fast-food chains and other restaurants with drive-thru lanes or those with business models centered on takeout or delivery, such as pizzerias, are widely seen as holding their own during the pandemic.

The Culver’s chain, based in Prairie du

Restaurants with drive-thru service or that focus on carry-out or delivery have weathered COVID-19 relatively well. Sit-down establishments have not. Above: At a Culver’s in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. MICHAEL SNYDER/THE NORTHWEST FLORIDA DAILY NEWS

Sac, Wisconsin, has more than 765 locally owned and operated restaurants in 25 states. Currently, more than 70% of all its sales are drive-thru and to-go orders.

“We are on track to open several more restaurants yet this year,” the company said in a statement.

That’s not the case with other restaurants.

Among fi ner-dining restaurants, many have adjusted to off er carryout, which some restaurateurs say isn’t sustainable. Still others have yet to reopen.

“We know that restaurants are really struggling, without a doubt, particularly for anybody who relies on dining-in options,” said Kristine Hillmer, president and CEO of the Wisconsin Restaurant Association.

The biggest challenge for Wisconsin restaurants, especially once winter arrives and outdoor dining is no longer an option, is customers’ fear of crowded indoor spaces, Hillmer said.

Across Wisconsin, restaurants are doing better in parts of the state that are more open but which also are less densely populated than Milwaukee and Madison, Hillmer said.

The pending arrival of winter certainly comes with a sense of foreboding for restaurants.

“The holiday season is the next big season to see what happens,” Hillmer said. If consumers stay away, “I think Jan. 1 is going to be a brutally hard time for a lot of folks, and they’re going to have to make a lot of hard decisions,” she said.

Among restaurants, “70% might survive,” Hillmer added. “I think the longer this goes on, the less and less likely this is going to be.”

Retail upheaval The unevenness of the COVID economy is also clearly seen in retail.

Grocery stores have seen so much

growth that they’ve barely been able to keep up with demand. Online retailers and big-box discounters are also reporting a huge uptick in sales.

Grocery giant Kroger said its secondquarter profi t nearly tripled to $819 million on sales of $30.5 billion — up 8.2% — from the same period last year.

Same-store sales, a key retail metric because it controls for sales fl uctuations that result when newly opened or newly acquired stores are added, were up nearly 15%. By comparison, Kroger’s samestore sales in the same quarter of 2019 were up 2.2%.

“Grocers still face sporadic outages in the supply chain such as paper products and other items,” said James Hyland, vice president for communications and public aff airs for Kroger’s Milwaukeebased Roundy’s division. “Consumer packaged goods manufacturers might See ECONOMY, Page 82

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Trisha Kvien works out at the GB3 gym in Fresno, California, where alternating treadmills were taken out of service for social distancing. RON HOLMAN/VISALIA TIMES-DELTA

Economy Continued from Page 80

not be able to catch up until next year in terms of total replenishment.”

Sales gains across the grocery industry are due in part to the huge growth of online grocery shopping.

“Regarding the new normal, it’s still not 100% predictable as to what it will look like ...” Hyland said.

Other parts of retail have not fared as well. Department stores and many mall-

based specialty retailers have closed locations, laid off workers and declared bankruptcy.

Men’s Wearhouse, Jos. A. Bank, Brooks Brothers, Lord & Taylor, Ann Taylor, Loft and Neiman Marcus are among the retailers whose parent companies have entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Other retailers are continuing to navigate the changing landscape as the holiday shopping season approaches.

Offi cials at the Kohl’s department store chain, which is based in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, expected holiday shopping could start as early as October this year.

The retailer, which operates stores across the U.S., is operating under the

assumption that the same categories that have sold well throughout the pandemic — active, casual apparel, home and toys — will continue to be popular throughout the holidays.

During the pandemic, Kohl’s has seen its customers “gravitating to comfort,” CEO Michelle Gass said. Kohl’s already was paring down the goods sold in its stores before the pandemic. That eff ort became even more importanr when reopening stores to allow more space for physical distancing.

“Customers love less in the aisle,” said Jill Timm, chief fi nancial offi cer.

Meanwhile, online sales are growing.

For retail businesses, that means additional shipping costs. Kohl’s plans to en-

courage customers to opt to pick up at the store to reduce the company’s shipping expenses.

Consumers restrain spending The COVID-19 marketplace is fi lled with uncertainty going forward.

Consumers have clearly pulled back on their spending.

A study by personal fi nance website WalletHub showed that American consumers paid down $118 billion in credit card debt during the fi rst half of 2020 — the biggest amount ever.

“This record reduction in credit card See ECONOMY, Page 84

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Several stores in the Brookfi eld Fashion Center mall in Brookfi eld, Wisconsin, have closed in 2020 or are in process of closing. MICHAEL SEARS/MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL

Economy Continued from Page 82

debt has been driven largely by generous unemployment benefi ts and household austerity measures stemming from the pandemic,” WalletHub said.

2020 marked the fi rst time in 30 years that credit card debt among U.S. consumers had dropped during the Aprilthrough-June quarter, according to WalletHub. WalletHub is projecting that U.S. consumers will end the year with a slight reduction in credit card debt for the fi rst time in more than a decade, since the end of the Great Recession in 2009.

There’s a ‘K’ in real estate, too The pandemic’s economic eff ects so far haven’t hurt development of new industrial buildings, according to Greg Schementi, an executive at Cushman & Wakefi eld Inc., a Chicago-based global

commercial real estate services provider.

Schementi, who is president of the fi rm’s tenants representation in the Americas region, was part of a panel discussion sponsored by the Commercial Association of Realtors-Wisconsin.

Many offi ce tenants are delaying relocation decisions while they continue to assess the pandemic’s eff ects on the economy, and while they evaluate the pros and cons of working at home, Schementi said. That could aff ect demand for offi ce space. He also said midrise buildings might prove more attractive than high-rise offi ce towers.

Smaller cities like Milwaukee will probably see a faster return of downtown offi ce workers because they rely less on mass transit, said Matt Dorner, economic development director at the Milwaukee Downtown Business Improvement District.

In downtown Milwaukee, one-third of offi ce employees have already returned to their workplaces, Dorner said.

Retail real estate has been hit hard by the pandemic’s economic eff ects, said Cory Sovine, a senior vice president of retail at the Milwaukee offi ce of commer-

cial real estate services provider Colliers International.

Store and restaurant chain bankruptcies have created massive swaths of vacant space in malls and strip shopping centers nationwide, Sovine said.

What about manufacturing?

Manufacturing has always been a big deal in Wisconsin, which makes all sorts of things from gigantic machinery to food products. “Metro Milwaukee and Wisconsin have seen great diversifi cation of the economy over the past 20 years,” Sheehy said. “Having said that, we’re still No. 1 or No. 2 in the country in terms of the percentage of our workforce in manufacturing.

“It’s a really important part of our economy,” Sheehy added. “These are high value, high wage jobs.”

The impact of the pandemic on this sector is less clear-cut.

“Demand and business disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic severely challenged the manufacturing sector earlier in the year,” according to a recent report by the National Association of

Manufacturers, a trade group.

Manufacturing production dropped 20.2% between February and April, according to the group.

Since then, the outlook has become decidedly brighter.

In the quarterly Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey conducted Aug. 14-28, 66% of respondents reported a positive outlook for their company in the third quarter, up from about 34% in the second quarter.

“Positive sentiment in the manufacturing sector has nearly doubled since May,” the group said.

Just over half those surveyed — 50.6% — predicted an increase in production during the third quarter compared with the second.

Sheehy said that based on his conversations with those in the manufacturing business in the Milwaukee metro area, slow growth is on the horizon for the sector.

This story included reporting from Guy Boulton, Tom Daykin, Carol Deptolla and Sarah Hauer of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. USA TODAY and the Cincinnati Enquirer also contributed.

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Need a job?

Facebook off ers path Certifi cation program builds social media skills Dalvin Brown USA TODAY

Facebook has partnered with online learning platform Coursera on a program aimed at helping “diverse job seekers” fi nd work in an employment market decimated by the pandemic.

The two companies started with a so-

“We know that this is just the beginning and that we have more work to do to ensure that we create opportunities for talented individuals from all walks of life to build careers in the digital industry.”

Judy Toland

Facebook vice president and head of scaled solutions and global business marketing

cial media marketing certifi cate program that they said can benefi t people with no prior industry experience who want to “become ready for social media marketing jobs within a few months.”

The partnership comes as the U.S. grapples with massive pandemic job losses — and as Facebook seeks to diversify its own workforce.

“We know that this is just the beginning and that we have more work to do to ensure that we create opportunities for

talented individuals from all walks of life to build careers in the digital industry,” said Judy Toland, Facebook’s vice president and head of scaled solutions and global business marketing.

The certifi cation program was designed to teach social media marketing techniques and the relevant business skills required to land an internship or job in the Facebook advertiser ecosystem, the companies said.

It’s a 20-week program that costs $49 per month. It takes roughly four to six months to complete, so learners are looking at spending up to $294, depending on which specifi c classes they take.

After completing the certifi cate, participants can share their information with a list of employers who are in the market for diverse talent, including the advertising agency Havas Worldwide, the hairstyling tools company L’ange Hair and the area rug fi rm Ruggable.

Certifi cate holders can also put in for a role at Facebook.

In addition, Coursera will off er the classes for free to some underserved communities through its social impact program.

Facebook and the online learning company Coursera offer a $49-amonth program designed to prepare people for jobs in social media marketing.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION

BY LIONEL BONAVENTURE/ AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

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Toyin Kolawole struggled to get her natural grocery products into traditional retail stores. Now she operates a storefront on Amazon. IYA FOODS

Small business lifeline: Amazon?

Bob O’Donnell

During pandemic, it’s critical to be able to sell online

Special to USA TODAY

These days, it’s hard not to have an opinion about Amazon.

While some focus on the negative — including concerns about health and safety in some of its warehouses or the impact that online retail has had on traditional brick-and-mortar retail stores — others are grateful that during the pandemic, the company makes it easy to order almost anything and receive it in a timely, reliable manner without having to step outside their homes.

What often gets lost in these debates is the positive impact the company can have on small businesses, including minority-owned businesses.

Amazon’s recent Prime Day promo-

“The power of Amazon is that you get the opportunity of telling the story of a product. Plus, you get feedback on your product, and you get to know your customers on a 1:1 level.”

Toyin Kolawole entrepreneur

tion off ered an interesting example.

For the fi rst time, Prime members who placed orders of $10 or more from any small business selling on Amazon received $10 in credit that could be used to purchase anything on the site (from large or small businesses).

Given the huge traffi c on Prime Day, that’s powerful incentive for consumers to purchase from small businesses on the Amazon marketplace — something a lot of people may not have tried yet.

The promotion also highlights some of the eff orts the company is making to help small businesses, which, let’s not forget, represent more than 99.5% of all US businesses and employ half the country’s workforce. While many might presSee AMAZON, Page 90

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ume that Amazon and other online retailers have only hurt small businesses — and, no doubt, many small businesses have been hurt by the accelerated shift to online shopping brought on by the pandemic — a whole range of small businesses have benefi tted from being on Amazon.

Expanding to digital Some of these are existing small businesses that have successfully transitioned to online retail, while others are new small businesses created specifi cally for the digital world, including app developers, content creators and more.

Toyin Kolawole, an entrepreneur who immigrated to the United States from Nigeria about 20 years ago, provides some fascinating insights.

“I started my company (Iya Foods, a purveyor of natural grocery staples such as fl ours and spices made from traditional African ingredients) with two products and would go to food shows trying to get noticed,” she said. “It was very expensive to participate and hard to make an impact.”

Although she eventually succeeded in getting some of her products into Walmart and Mariano’s, she faced numerous challenges when talking to most traditional retailers. “When I would talk to grocery store chains or other retailers, they would almost always express concern about how few Africans frequented their stores,” she said. “I would then say, ‘Well, ‘do you sell Greek yogurt? Did you ask those suppliers how many Greeks might come into their stores?’ ” Even when Kolawole had success in some specialty stores, Iya Foods products were often placed in locations like dedicated “urban” sections.

“With Amazon, I could take my fl our and just put it in the fl our section, so it gave me the opportunity to compete fairly,” she said.

Storefronts on Amazon Amazon also allows small businesses that meet certain requirements to create what’s called Enhanced Brand Content, which is essentially a digital storefront.

“The power of Amazon is that you get the opportunity of telling the story of a

An Amazon worker sorts orders at a fulfi llment center in New York City. Entrepreneurs who sell on Amazon can also choose to store their products in the company’s warehouses and have Amazon handle shipping. JOHANNES EISELE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

product,” Kolawole said. “Plus, you get feedback on your product, and you get to know your customers on a 1:1 level.”

As appealing as this all sounds, however, there were certainly challenges along the way. Just as many large companies are going through the often diffi cult process of digital transformation, small businesses that want to sell on Amazon have to learn to function in the online world.

“I used Amazon Seller University quite a bit, especially early on,” Kolawole said, referring to a series of free training videos that show sellers how to create effective listings, understand Amazon’s policies and more. “There were days when I felt like I was back in school.”

Iya Foods takes advantage of a service called Fulfi llment by Amazon, or FBA, that allows small businesses to have their products stored in and shipped from Amazon warehouses.

“Fulfi llment services from Amazon has been hugely benefi cial,” Kolawole said. “They let us compete with companies that are signifi cantly bigger than us.” As great as that is, though, the fees for using FBA and other Amazon services, which can be as much as 30% of the sale amount, “sometimes made me feel like I was working for Amazon.”

‘A real confi dence booster’ Despite those concerns, she’s a strong believer in the opportunities and level playing fi eld that Amazon can off er to small businesses.

“Selling on Amazon can be a real confi dence booster, especially when people like what you do,” she said.

It has also allowed Iya Foods to expand well beyond what it could have accomplished with traditional retail alone.

For those small businesses that may

be considering the move to online, Kolawole suggests getting as much information about whatever category they want to be in.

“Learn the competitors and read the reviews,” she said. “I read every review for every competitor and learned a great deal in the process.”

Channeling the entrepreneurial spirit she said she learned by starting to work at the age of 9 in her family’s business in Nigeria, she added, “If you want to experiment, Amazon is a great place to try.”

USA TODAY columnist Bob O’Donnell is the president and chief analyst of TECHnalysis Research, a market research and consulting fi rm that provides strategic consulting and market research services to the technology industry and professional fi nancial community. His clients are major technology fi rms including Microsoft, HP, Dell, Samsung and Intel.

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Saul and Veronica Villanueva work from home in El Paso, Texas, while daughter Danae attends school remotely. As the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, the fully remote office or classroom became a mainstream concept pretty much overnight. Things are unlikely to ever go fully back to the way they were. BRIANA SANCHEZ/EL PASO TIMES

We won’t return to the old offi ce Work is changing profoundly, permanently Bob O'Donnell

Special to USA TODAY

As the COVID-19 pandemic drags on, there have been many questions about what the workplace of the future will look like — or where it will even be — particularly for people who work at companies based in traditional offi ces.

Of course, some of the answers are obvious. Just look around.

Videoconferencing on platforms like Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet and so on are — like it or not — with us to stay. The fully remote workplace went from a rarity to something completely mainstream almost literally overnight, and it has created habits that we won’t be able to simply walk away from.

Yes, there’s a growing awareness that it’s possible to have too much of a good

thing — assuming video calls are indeed a good thing. The frequency and length of video meetings will probably decline somewhat over time, but they aren’t going to disappear. The platforms are evolving, however, thanks to immense competition and the critical fact that the programmers who are creating these tools have to use them as well and are spotting areas of opportunity and room for improvement. (That isn’t always the case with other common business applications.)

In addition to new ways to see meeting participants and content, the platforms are adding benefi ts like real-time See OFFICE, Page 94

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Second-grade teacher Marco Messorri talks to students from his classroom at Oglethorpe Avenue Elementary in Athens, Georgia, in September. The school district opted for distance learning for the fall, although many school staff worked from the building, in part to have some human interaction. NOEL LYN SMITH/USA TODAY NETWORK

Companies are looking to software solutions to both ease the back-to-office process and improve the overall employee experience.

Offi ce Continued from Page 92

audio transcription — making it signifi cantly easier and faster to confi rm your notes, double-check what was said, or catch up on a meeting you missed.

Altered environments The changes afoot in the offi ce go well beyond beyond video calls.

Most important, work environments are almost certainly going to get less

dense, with wide-reaching implications.

When employees do start to return to the offi ce — and the target dates for that keep getting pushed further and further back for many organizations — some companies plan to implement rotating schedules to reduce the number of people in a given space.

Some plan to add offi ce space to allow people to spread people out, while others have adjusted to larger numbers of workfrom-home employees and, therefore, expect to reduce the amount of offi ce space they have.

In most cases, the workplaces that people return to will include physical changes to facilitate social distancing practices — things like plastic barriers,

higher cubicle walls, rearranged environments and more.

In short, the offi ce isn’t likely to be what you remembered (or what you may be hoping for).

Faced with that disappointing reality, even more people may consider longerterm workplace alternatives. That could include permanent work-from-home arrangements — including working from homes so far from the offi ce that commuting would be impossible — or a more nomadic work existence, in which people work from a variety of locations day to day, including the offi ce, their homes, coff ee shops and other places.

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Many workers got their fi rst real taste of videoconferencing during the pandemic. Virtual meetings will likely continue even as offices reopen. LEO PATRIZI/GETTY IMAGES

Offi ce

companies are looking to software solutions to both ease the back-to-offi ce process and improve the overall employee experience.

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Keeping track

Connectivity technologies like 5G and Wi-Fi 6E will be critical because all these remote workers will need high-speed connections (and ideally a backup connectivity solution in case their primary means of access isn’t working well that day). We’re starting to see more mobile PCs coming to market with these technologies from major vendors like Lenovo, Dell, and HP. In addition to enhanced hardware,

In the case of the former, companies like Cisco are leveraging their position as providers of in-offi ce wired and wireless networking equipment to create innovative tools. Cisco’s “DNA Spaces” indoor location service, for example, can track how many people are in a given section of an offi ce or are scheduled to use a particular conference room, then notify employees of potential people jams.

Companies like Citrix and VMware

have seen strong interest in their virtual desktop solutions, which enable easy remote access to all the applications an employee may need. Citrix is taking the concept even further by building a series of micro-apps within its Citrix Desktop that can be used to check on the physical and mental well-being of employees via simple surveys and check-in procedures.

It’s all part of a bigger eff ort we will likely see grow and evolve as companies try to fi gure out how to best leverage technology to maintain closer, more personal connections with employees — a need essentially created by this pandemic.

Further down the road, we may well fall back into more of our old work habits

and environments, though even those won’t be exactly the way they were. For the next year or so, however, and especially as colder weather keeps us indoors, it seems likely that the near-term future of work is going to be pretty similar to what we’ve been experiencing.

It’s still a work-at-home world.

USA TODAY columnist Bob O'Donnell is president and chief analyst of TECHnalysis Research, a market research and consulting fi rm that provides strategic consulting and market research services to the technology industry and professional fi nancial community. His clients are major technology fi rms including Microsoft, HP, Dell, Samsung and Intel. You can follow him on Twitter @bobodtech.

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U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, right, bumps elbows with patrol officer Tiffany Ray at a September rally in Anderson, South Carolina, to support police. Graham was campaigning for re-election — in a year when shaking hands and kissing babies are no-nos for coronavirus prevention. KEN RUINARD/ANDERSON INDEPENDENT MAIL

Pining for ‘normal’ just makes it worse Mental health experts say accepting reality is the way to stay strong in tough times Joel Shannon

USA TODAY

Months into the COVID-19 pandemic, people across the country and around the world are longing to return to the way things used to be.

But that desire is probably straining our mental health even further.

“Our brains really are very eager to get back to normal, to get back to January 2020,” said Gleb Tsipursky, CEO of Disaster Avoidance Experts and author of a book about adapting to “the new abnormal” of COVID-19.

That’s simply not realistic, Tsipursky said. Some of the losses that have been suff ered in recent months are permanent. The dark cloud of risk, meanwhile,

will linger — possibly for years.

“Normality” means diff erent things for diff erent people. Tragically, a return to pre-pandemic life isn’t possible for the hundreds of thousands of Americans who lost a loved one to the virus this year.

For some Americans, a return to normal would mean restored health and fi nancial stability. To others, it’d be a world with concerts and gatherings, hugs and handshakes.

There’s nothing wrong with hoping for a better, more stable future, New York University psychology professor GabriSee NORMAL, Page 100

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Normal Continued from Page 98

ele Oettingen says. But it’s important to recognize that it is likely a long-term fantasy, she said.

A lingering threat The virus continues to defi ne American daily life: Cases are rising; the president was diagnosed with COVID-19; Disneyland is still closed; and the death toll is comparable to that in some of our worst wars.

That won’t always be the case. Tsipursky described a scenario in which increasingly eff ective vaccines and treatments will slowly reduce the spread of the virus over the course of years — a gradual process, rather than a quick return to what life was like in January 2020.

Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious diseases offi cial, has hinted at a similar future. Approval for a vaccine will not be an “overnight event” that quickly returns the nation to a normal way of life, Fauci has said. Even “getting back to a degree of normality which resembles where we were prior to COVID” might not arrive until late 2021, he said in early September.

As long as the virus continues spreading, previously normal activities such as going to a bar, attending a crowded concert, or even hosting a family gathering over the holidays will carry signifi cant risks. And Tsipursky stressed that those risks aren’t only about your own health.

Because the virus preys on the vulnerable, this year a normal holiday gathering can “kill grandma,” Tsipursky said.

And the virus’ path to such a vulnerable person can wind through their family’s everyday activities.

Accept the current reality Months ago, mental health experts recommended embracing grief amid the pandemic. It’s OK to mourn for the job lost, the prom or graduation ceremony missed, the favorite restaurant closed.

Tsipursky and Oettingen recommend similar thinking today: It’s important to accept that, for a time, this disease will continue to upend our daily lives.

It’s easy to become preoccupied with “if only,” Oettingen said — to fantasize

A staff member at Martin Funeral Home in El Paso, Texas, checks a guest’s temperature Aug. 12 as people arrive for a celebration of life for Daniel Morales, who had died of COVID-19. BRIANA SANCHEZ/EL PASO TIMES

about enjoying something lost in recent months or what life would be like if the pandemic was over.

But in many cases, those fantasies won’t be realized in the near future. And wishing that it was diff erent is futile, Oettingen said.

Adjust your expectations A more positive approach: spending a quiet moment to carefully adjust thinking and expectations.

Oettingen, who has written extensively about transforming wishes for the future into actionable goals, recommends a method called “WOOP” — wish, outcome, obstacle, plan. You set a goal (wish), visualize what you want to get out of it (outcome), identify what could keep you from getting there (obstacle), and devise a way to overcome the obstacle (plan).

The point is to let go of fantasies that aren’t realistic or healthy so you can set achievable goals.

Get specifi c, she said. Think about exactly what you’re lacking amid the pandemic: What do you really want?

Those who miss face-to-face gatherings are probably longing for social connection. Those who miss travel might

crave relaxation, or perhaps adventure.

There are still ways to get those things, Oettingen said. They might even be hiding in plain sight.

Social connection can be found in virtual visits with long-lost friends. Relaxation can be found in a quiet walk by a nearby river. Adventure might be found by fi nally kayaking down that river.

It’s an individual process, Oettingen said. “Get creative in fi nding something that is feasible for you during the pandemic.”

But a happier life won’t materialize without action, Oettingen said. So the next steps are critical: Figure out “what is it in you” that stands in the way of accomplishing this new goal, then make a plan to overcome it.

Letting go of your fantasies about a pre-pandemic life isn’t only good for your mental health. It’s also good for your physical health, Tsipursky said.

“There are so many people who have not changed their thought patterns,” he said. As the months drag on, they feel as if living out their fantasies of a normal life are likely safe for them and their family — even when they’re not.

“Don’t act as if things are normal,” Tsipursky said. That can be a “tragic, tragic mistake.”

Abdul Djiguiba fi lls up at a gas station in Milwaukee in September.

As coronavirus cases accelerated in Wisconsin, the governor extended a public health emergency until at least late November.

MIKE DE SISTI/MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL

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Theme parks could infl ate magic bubble Rapid testing at entrances would let masks come off , expert says Arthur Levine

Special to USA TODAY

According to Eddie Sotto, the only people wearing masks at theme parks should be the actors playing anthropomorphic rodents, ducks and other characters. Yes, he knows there is a pandemic. No, he’s not some anti-mask zealot.

Sotto spent 13 years as a Walt Disney “Imagineer,” the term Disney uses to describe the designers, writers, engineers and other creative and technical professionals who create its theme park experiences. Sotto had a hand in developing landmark attractions including the Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland in California and the industry’s fi rst trackless indoor dark ride, Pooh’s Hunny Hunt at Tokyo Disneyland.

Sotto, now president of his own entertainment design company, SottoStudios, believes that social distancing, mandatory face coverings, sanitizer stations, deep cleaning of shared surfaces, and other remedies that parks and attractions have introduced to deal with COVID-19 just aren’t cutting it.

“You can’t treat people like they are in a hospital,” Sotto says, referring to the attempts to keep people safely apart at what are inherently social spaces. Those practices disconnect visitors from theme Continued on next page Walt Disney World in Orlando reopened in July with requirements for face coverings and social distancing. Weak attendance led to announced layoffs.

JOE BURBANK/ORLANDO SENTINEL VIA AP

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Continued from previous page

park magic, he says. “It’s a death spiral for the industry.”

Indeed, attendance at parks that have reopened amid the coronavirus pandemic has generally been disappointing.

Florida’s Walt Disney World, which was already operating its four theme parks with reduced hours, moved to an even shorter daily schedule in September and announced plans for layoff s.

Some parks, such as Kennywood in Pennsylvania and its corporate cousin Story Land in New Hampshire, called it a season on Labor Day. Sotto’s radical solution? Allow visi-

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tors through the turnstiles only if they have been tested and cleared as infection-free, then let them scream to their hearts’ content aboard roller coasters and party like it’s 2019. No masks or distancing required.

To help make these COVID-era oases possible for amusement parks, cruise ships, stadiums, and elsewhere, Sotto proposes a screening process that incorporates rapid-result testing. He envisions a minimally invasive procedure, such as providing a saliva sample or blowing into a Breathalyzer-like device, coupled with on-site equipment that could accurately diagnose coronavirus infection within a few minutes. And he wants to make it a fun experience.

The technology isn’t quite there yet, but it is advancing rapidly. Sotto says his

goal is to be able to apply the strategies next season, possibly by spring.

Is the concept viable? Perhaps.

“I’m a believer in rapid tests and their ability to help open communities up more,” says Morgan Katz, an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University and an infectious diseases expert. But she says she is also a strong advocate for masks and other preventive measures.

“Do I think you can do one or the other?” Katz continues. “At this point, no. It needs to be a combination of eff orts.”

Still, she agrees that there are merits to the idea of a protective bubble. She points to the success the NBA had with its social cocoon at the ESPN sports comSee PARKS, Page 106

Amusement parks like Universal Orlando reopened with safety measures such as mask requirements, enforced social distancing and hand sanitizer stations. But industry veteran Eddie Sotto says that approach kills the very magic that brings visitors to parks. He says the focus should be on testing instead.

JOHN RAOUX/AP

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Parks Continued from Page 105

plex located at — ironically enough — Disney World. And Katz notes that coronavirus tests have been evolving at an impressive rate, pointing to the rapid antigen card test developed by Abbott Labs, which was given emergency approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as a promising example.

Given time, it may be possible for rapid tests to deliver more reliable fi ndings.

By next spring, Katz says, Sotto’s maskfree proposition might be feasible: “I don’t think it’s completely off the table.”

Sotto says he was struck with the bubble concept as he thought about airport security. Once passengers pass through the security checkpoint and enter the restricted area of the terminal, they feel safe. That feeling of being protected, as much as the security itself, is an essential element of the air travel experience.

Likewise, one of the primary tenets of Disney’s “Imagineering” is providing reassurance to theme park guests.

“Making people feel safe and happy is the chief objective at a park,” Sotto says.

“They can’t enjoy an experience unless they are reassured.”

Airports may have provided inspiration for COVID-free bubbles elsewhere, but with their imposing screening devices and processes administered by uniformed TSA offi cers, they are also a case study in how not to treat guests.

Sotto believes they undermine the public’s desire to travel.

Instead, he plans to lean on the expertise of attraction designers by turning the testing process into part of the fun.

His COVID-screening procedure would be seamless, enjoyable, and above all, whimsical. It’s the imagination side of the Imagineering equation.

As an example, Sotto says a breathtesting device could be disguised as a bubble maker. He describes a fanciful, interactive experience with guests blowing virtual bubbles that encase their images and follow them through a colorful space. All the while, they are actually providing a sample that is collected and evaluated. At the end of the experience, their bubbles could glow green to indicate they are infection-free.

“That’s what Imagineers do,” Sotto says. “We never settle. We ask why can’t we make something better and more fun.”

Signs at an entrance at Walt Disney World provide information about COVID-19 and the health and safety procedures in place in the park.

KIM KLEMENT/USA TODAY NETWORK

A visitor to Downtown Disney, part of the Disneyland resort in Anaheim, California, gets into the spirit with a mask modeled after a Disney favorite.

ROBYN BECK/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

“Making people feel safe and happy is the chief objective at a park. They can’t enjoy an experience unless they are reassured.”

Might the need for screening systems disappear once a vaccine is developed and deployed? Sotto doesn’t think so. He again points to airports, noting that nearly two decades after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, airline passengers still have to go through security checkpoints and remove their shoes.

Likewise, he thinks the pandemic has brought about a new normal.

Parks and other places will want to be prepared for future pandemics and other events, and visitors will continue to want to be reassured before they engage in shared experiences. That’s why Sotto calls his screening division Futureproof Experiences.

“Our goal is to restore the happiest places on Earth to be the safest places on Earth,” he says.

Eddie Sotto

entertainment designer

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Travelers make their way through the Indianapolis airport in June. All U.S. airlines now require passengers to wear face coverings to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, with few or no exceptions. In many cases, those requirements apply not just on planes but also in the airport. ROBERT SCHEER/THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR

Holiday travel: All up in the air Even if it’s safe to fl y or to stay at a hotel, families must still consider the risks of getting together in person to celebrate Chris Woodyard

USA TODAY

Like many others this year, the Rivers family is suspending its holiday travel tradition to make sure the coronavirus doesn’t make an appearance at the Thanksgiving feast.

Gene Rivers of Tallahassee, Florida, says the normal routine of gathering the family at a ski resort northwest of Montreal for Thanksgiving and from mid-December to mid-January isn’t going to be possible. Both Canada and the United States have closed the border to nonessential travel.

Plan B was for Rivers and his wife to host their three grown kids in New York City. But that isn’t practical either; New York is one of the states imposing a two-

week quarantine on those coming from places with high rates of COVID-19 infections. And even if that weren’t the case, their youngest son, a college student in Connecticut, was instructed to steer clear of family gatherings until the yearend break to avoid bringing the virus back to campus.

“Seems the forces are all against us getting back together,” Rivers says.

Normally, autumn is a time for mapping holiday plans and making travel See TRAVEL, Page 110

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Travel Continued from Page 108

reservations. But this year, bringing families together indoors for Thanksgiving or the year-end holidays could be downright dangerous, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, depending on who’s invited, how close celebrants are to each other and where celebrations are held.

A survey by research fi rm Morning Consult found that 47% of families say they will cancel holiday get-togethers.

Almost half say they will shift from inperson celebrations to virtual.

Every family has to make its own decisions, weighing the risks against the opportunity to see loved ones.

Fares are low, but are the risks?

One thing that could entice them to go ahead with travel: relatively cheap airfares. A round-trip ticket on American Airlines from Los Angeles to New York during the peak Thanksgiving travel window — leaving the Tuesday before the holiday and returning the Sunday afterward — was recently off ered for $418.

Flying from Minneapolis to Atlanta on Southwest Airlines, leaving Tuesday and returning Saturday, was $267.

The percentage of fi lled seats on airline fl ights has been running in the low 30% range, according to Airlines for America, the industry’s trade group.

Those percentages are so unprofi table that the algorithms airlines use to set fares based on past customer behavior are thrown out of whack, says Peter Greenberg, host of “The Travel Detective” on PBS stations as well as a syndicated radio show.

Not only are airfares a relative bargain for a holiday period, but airlines also have been off ering discounts on tickets purchased with frequent fl yer miles to fi ll otherwise empty seats on fl ights.

“For the moment, if you book ahead ... you’re going to fi nd some great deals,” Greenberg says.

Greenberg says he believes airline travel is safe as long as passengers keep their masks in place and set the air nozzles above their seats to full blast. He recommends that travelers maintain social See TRAVEL, Page 112

Airlines are making their COVID precautions clear to passengers with signage like this poster at the airport in Rochester, New York. SHAWN DOWD/ ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE

Masks and social distancing aren’t just for people passing through airports.

They apply to airport workers, too. This TSA officer in Palm Springs, California, has both a face shield and a plexiglass partition. VICKIE CONNOR/THE DESERT SUN

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Travel Continued from Page 110

distancing at the airport and, when staying at hotels, keep housekeepers and other hotel staff out of their room by requesting extra linens and supplies be dropped off at their door.

The airline industry says planes are safe. Besides the mask requirements on all major U.S. airlines, there are enhanced cleaning procedures on aircraft.

Air circulates 30 times an hour through HEPA fi lters on most planes, says Nicholas Calio, CEO Airlines for America, so there’s little risk of catching COVID-19 on a plane trip.

A pair of studies published in September looked into how easily the coronavirus can spread on long fl ights. Both pointed to cases where an infected person may have passed the virus to people nearby, although the studies are based on fl ights that occurred in March before precautions such as mask-wearing became widespread.

If the distance to a family celebration is short enough, there’s always the option to drive instead of fl y. That comes with its own hazards, such as coming into contact with the virus at gas stations, restrooms or restaurants along the way.

Guides for safer gatherings Now that more is known about preventing the spread of the virus, medical experts urge extreme caution over the holidays, but they don’t rule out family gatherings.

Family members who don’t normally live together should adhere to guidelines regarding masks and social distancing, says M. Kit Delgado, assistant professor of emergency medicine and epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania.

He acknowledges that many families won’t heed such advice.

“I don’t have great confi dence that everyone will adhere to these precautions at all times, especially when drinking alcohol and seeing loved ones you haven’t seen forever,” he says.

He considers large indoor gatherings to be medium to high risk for transmitting COVID-19. Better to celebrate the holidays outdoors if weather permits.

Otto Yang, a professor and associate

USA TODAY SPECIAL EDITION

chief of the infectious diseases division at the David Geff en School of Medicine at the University of California-Los Angeles, says families with elderly members or those with compromised immune systems should skip the festivities.

“It’s kind of a case-by-case process. It depends on how much risk each of the family members has,” Yang says.

The CDC, in guidance issued in September, urged people to stick to household gatherings for the holidays and to keep a distance if guests are invited.

Travelers try to fi nd solutions Rivers and his wife still want to meet up with their grown children and are working to fi nd a way to do so, even if it looks a little grim at the moment.

“We have hope. So we are planning on something happening, so we can be going as usual,” Rivers says. “And if we can’t, we will be having a Zoom holiday.”

Steve Kaufman of St. Louis fi nds himself in the same position after his grown off spring laid down the law.

“This year, our kids in Houston and Minneapolis have told us they won’t fl y home, nor will they allow us to visit because of COVID,” he says.

Others feel more confi dent. John Nehls plans to fl y from home in Knoxville, Tennessee, to Los Angeles to see his daughter. That’s a turnabout from decades as a frequent business traveler, he says, when he usually stayed home for the holidays.

“Booking now, I can fl y round trip for $119 on American. How can you beat that?” he wrote in an email.

He says he is “quite confi dent” that fl ying is a low-risk proposition, especially given the stepped-up cleaning protocols and other precautions on airlines.

Kit Loudin of Grayslake, Illinois, is invesigating where he can go to indulge in his usual holiday pastime — a scuba diving trip in the Caribbean.

“Yes, I have my fears, but my lust for travel assuages them,” Loudin says.

“Once the snow starts to fl y, so do I.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says viruses “do not spread easily on flights,” but opportunities for transmission aren’t confi ned to planes.

Social distancing can be impossible in crowded areas of airports. At right: In Tampa, Florida. CHRIS O'MEARA/AP

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Santa Claus is coming to ... Zoom As many live gigs get canceled, performers turn to virtual visits Charisse Jones USA TODAY

I

s Santa Claus coming to town?

In a year like no other, even Santa Claus may fi nd himself out of work.

A visit to the mall to sit on the jolly old elf ’s lap may be yet another tradition knocked aside by COVID-19 precautions. And while that’s bad news for kids, it’s worse for all those Santas who count on gigs at department stores and offi ce Christmas parties to earn extra cash — or, in some cases, a big chunk of their annual income.

When Mike Hadrych retired more than a decade ago, he exchanged his jacket and tie for a red Santa suit and began to spend the early days of winter listening to kids’ wish lists.

He’s made as many as 70 appearances a year. But as he prepares for the fi rst holiday season since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Hadrych says his phone is barely ringing.

“I normally have 20 to 30 bookings, and right now I have two,” says Hadrych, 72, who lives with his family in Canoga Park, California. “So I expect it to be really, really slow. ... There’s just a lot of unknowns right now.”

Though many retailers and organizations are still fi nalizing plans, it looks like in-person Santa bookings will be down See SANTA, Page 116 Jim Beidle makes appearances as Santa in the Seattle area. He’ll likely be doing it virtually this holiday season, the fi rst since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. COURTESY OF JIM BEIDLE

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Santa Continued from Page 114

“anywhere from 25% to 40%” this holiday season, says Mitch Allen, founder of HireSanta.com, which maintains a database of roughly 2,000 entertainers to place Santa Clauses at events and venues worldwide.

A mall Santa with “a real beard, real belly, real laugh,” can make $5,000 to $10,000 working through November and December, Allen says. For many Santa Claus entertainers on a fi xed income, that extra cash is crucial.

Not all malls and party hosts are saying no to having Santa appear live.

“Santa is coming to a Simon shopping center near you,” said Ali Slocum, a spokeswoman for mall operator Simon Property Group.

The DeVargas Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, still plans to have Santa appear in person. There will be a plexiglass shield that provides separation between the kids and St. Nick but still allows them to pose for that annual photo.

“We’ve always had Santa,” said Katy Fitzgerald, the mall’s senior project manager. A survey of shoppers found they still wanted to be able to take photos with Santa in person this year, she says.

Even so, Allen of HireSanta.com notes that many venues are reducing the number of hours Santa will be on site.

“Brothers in red”: Members of the Michigan Association of Professional Santas meet regularly on Zoom to discuss creative ways to still perform this holiday season amid the COVID-19 pandemic. COURTESY OF MICHAEL HOWE

Black Santa,” says he was able to earn more than $40,000 last year. He says he may equal that this holiday season as his business pivots to virtual visits.

But “even though you can make a lot of money, the guys that …continue to do it, do it because they love what they do,” said Sinclair, who has been performing as Santa for nearly 20 years.

Trading the mall for a screen Michael Howe of Reed City, Michigan, has portrayed Santa Claus off and on for 27 years. But after retiring last June from his career as a middle school computer teacher, he decided to become a professional Santa to continue being able to connect with children.

As a board member of the Michigan Association of Professional Santas, Howe has been meeting with the men he calls his “brothers in red” every Friday for the last three months, brainstorming on Zoom about how to keep the Christmas spirit alive amid COVID-19.

Talk has focused on virtual visits, enabling kids to talk to Santa through a computer screen.

Video platform VisitWithSanta.com is “defi nitely seeing an uptick in interest ... attributable in part to the unfortunate circumstances of the pandemic,” says Carla McAnulty, spokeswoman for the

Seeing Santa Safely

D. Sinclair says he might make as much this year with virtual visits as he did in 2019 with in-person gigs in the Atlanta area, but he stresses that connecting with people is more important than money. COURTESY OF D. SINCLAIR

platform’s parent company, WelcomeSanta.com.

HireSanta has also seen a surge of interest in virtual visits. “We’ve done them in the past, but we’re really gearing up this year, and orders for them have been tremendous already,” Allen says.

D. Sinclair, 56, who makes appearances in and around Atlanta as “The Real

Despite the likely increase in virtual visits, Santa’s superstar status makes him a big draw for retailers who, after being largely shut down in the spring, may need him more than ever to bring in foot traffi c this holiday season.

Some are shifting to outdoor events.

“They’ll still have Santa, but he’ll be sitting on a sleigh, and kids will be 6 feet away,” Allen says.

Howe says he has been adapting to the new reality.

In response to requests from parents who contact him on his Facebook page, he’s created more than a hundred videos in the past few months that encourage kids as they cope with a weird and distressing new world.

“Everything is going to be OK,” Howe tells them. “ ‘Eventually, we’ll get back to normal. And I can’t wait to see you.’ ”

Michael Howe of Reed City, Michigan, has been playing Santa Claus for decades and decided to “turn pro” after retiring — just in time for COVID to upend the biz. COURTESY OF MICHAEL HOWE

“I normally have 20 to 30 bookings, and right now I have two,” says Mike Hadrych of Canoga Park, California. “So I expect it to be really, really slow.” COURTESY OF MIKE HADRYCH

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Waiter Oscar Vicente opens a bottle of wine for customers at Pistache in West Palm Beach, Florida, on May 11. It was the fi rst day restaurants in Palm Beach County were able to resume service in their dining rooms and on patios. GREG LOVETT/PALM BEACH POST

Keith Garrison and his daughter Jillaina mask up for their grand opening event at Patina Storage in Piedmont, South Carolina, on Oct. 23. The family-owned self-storage operation actually opened for business on April 15, but limits on gatherings prevented it from doing so with much fanfare. By October, restrictions had scaled back enough to allow traditional new-business celebrations such as a ribbon-cutting and the presentation of “fi rst dollar” plaques from local business promotion groups. KEN RUINARD /ANDERSON INDEPENDENT MAIL

Shormin Akther wears protective gear as he and others from the Tarbiyah School in Newark, Delaware, deliver meals to people who were in quarantine after being exposed to the virus.

WILLIAM BRETZGER/WILMINGTON NEWS JOURNAL

Plexiglass shields at businesses — like this one at Piecemeal Pies in White River Junction, Vermont — allow workers and customers to interact face to face in the usual manner but with reduced risk of virus transmission. AUSTIN DANFORTH/BURLINGTON FREE PRESS

Clarence Swearengen takes part in early voting Oct. 26 at a polling station set up at The Love Kitchen, a social services organization in Knoxville, Tennessee.

"I don't like to wait until the last minute," he said. "I like to get it done.” SAUL YOUNG/KNOXVILLE NEWS SENTINEL

Angela Crespo works on masks at Ames Corp. in Hamburg, New Jersey. Ames, which makes critical equipment components, including for respirators, never closed or halted production during the coronavirus pandemic. AMY NEWMAN/NORTHJERSEY.COM

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