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☆ Most Chinese shoppers are very cautious about going out, survey finds
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING — Most Chinese people still don't want to leave their apartments, despite a relaxation in Covid-related restrictions, an Oliver Wyman survey found. More than 90% of consumers surveyed over the weekend said they are avoiding going out, the consulting firm said. Nearly 60% of respondents said they wouldn't be comfortable going out in public for at least the next few months. "We observed that many high streets and shopping malls were deserted in December," Kenneth Chow, principal, Oliver Wyman, said in an email this week. Anecdotally, while many more people went out to malls and attractions in Beijing over the weekend, not all stores had reopened yet.

☆ Hollywood had a weird year. Here's what it should learn for 2023 and beyond.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Hollywood and movie theaters can learn a lot from hits like "Top Gun: Maverick" and others. Still, looking at what has been released can teach Hollywood some lessons for the coming year and beyond. In 2020 and 2021, Disney had released Pixar movies straight to Disney+, so maybe families have been trained to wait to watch Disney animated films at home. A recalibration of its strategy — keeping movies in theaters longer — could be needed to make moviegoing more appealing. It cost just $15 million to make and earned $85 million globally, $62 million of which was in the US.

☆ Beijing roars to life a month after zero-Covid lockdowns fade, but China is not out of the woods yet
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Crowds gather to watch a band perform at the Solana mall in Beijing on Christmas Eve 2022, as the city recovers from a Covid wave. BEIJING — People are returning to the streets in China's capital city as it emerges from a wave of Covid infections. Anecdotally, foot traffic at malls and Universal Beijing Resort's CityWalk over the weekend was up significantly to modestly crowded levels. In contrast to the surge in Beijing city traffic, Shanghai and Shenzhen still saw very low levels of congestion Monday morning, the Baidu data showed. The two cities started to see a wave of Covid infections after Beijing did.

☆ China is likely seeing over a million COVID cases and 5,000 deaths a day, report says. But Beijing's official data is showing 7 deaths so far this week.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

China is likely seeing over 1 million infections and 5,000 deaths a day from COVID-19, per Airfinity data. Beijing has also changed the way it records COVID-19 deaths, which may cause the low official count. The staggering estimates were released just as China's seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases, after the country loosened pandemic restrictions following nearly three years of strict containment measures. China reported 3,696 new local COVID-19 cases and zero deaths on Thursday, according to the National Health Commission. Airfinity predicts two upcoming COVID-19 peaks in China with cases reaching 3.7 million a day in mid-January and 4.2 million a day in early March 2023.

☆ China limits how it defines Covid deaths in official count
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Deaths that occur in patients with pre-existing illnesses are not counted as Covid-19 deaths, said Wang Guiqiang, the head of infectious disease at Peking University's No. The clarification of how China officially records Covid-19 deaths comes as cases have soared across the country amid the loosening of restrictions. "So limiting a diagnosis of death from Covid to someone with a Covid positive test and respiratory failure will very much underestimate the true death toll associated with Covid." That narrower criteria means that China's Covid-19 death toll will always be significantly lower than those of many other nations. The World Health Organization states in guidelines that "probable" Covid-19 cases and deaths where Covid-19 was a contributing factor should also be counted as Covid-19 deaths.

Dec 21 (Reuters) - China may be struggling to keep a tally of COVID-19 infections as the country experiences a big spike in cases, a senior World Health Organization official said on Wednesday, amid concerns about a lack of data from the country. "In China, what's been reported is relatively low numbers of cases in ICUs, but anecdotally ICUs are filling up," WHO's emergencies director Mike Ryan said. "I wouldn't like to say that China is actively not telling us what's going on. REUTERS/Denis BalibouseThe WHO said it was ready to work with China to improve the way the country collects data around critical factors such as hospitalisation and death. China has nine domestically developed COVID-19 vaccines approved for use, more than any other country, but they have not been updated to target the highly infectious Omicron variant.

☆ ‘Porch pirates’ stole an estimated 260 million packages in the last year. How to prevent theft on your doorstep
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Sarah O'Brien | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Andresr | E+ | Getty ImagesYou may not be the only person eager for packages to arrive at your house. Over the last year, an estimated 260 million delivered packages were stolen, according to a report from SafeWise, an online guide to security and safety products. The total annual lost to this type of theft is an estimated $19.5 billion, according to SafeWise. "The other aspect of this crime that makes it unique and likely to continue increasing is that there's very low risk and very low skill involved," Stickle said. If possible, you should sign up to receive an email or text message when your package is supposed to arrive and when it's actually delivered, Murray said.

China reported 2,157 new symptomatic infections Thursday, but officials have stopped counting asymptomatic cases and halted mandatory testing. James Zimmermann, a lawyer, posted on Twitter earlier this week that 90% of his office was sickened. Meanwhile, Beijing has tried to maintain its policy of imposing harsh limits on people’s daily lives whenever an outbreak flared. Although direct comparisons are difficult, officially China has suffered just more than 5,200 deaths — compared with nearly 1.1 million in the United States. It also recently caused social unrest in the form of widespread demonstrations, which appeared to be the catalyst for the abrupt policy change.

☆ China’s sudden ‘reopening’ reveals new challenges as infections soar
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Yuxuan Zhang | Afp | Getty ImagesBEIJING — Mainland China's swift rollback of many Covid-related restrictions has been unexpectedly sudden, revealing a new set of economic challenges. “Surging Covid infections may offset the positive impact of the easing in the near term." "The rapid surge of infections in big cities might be only the beginning of a massive wave of Covid infections," the analysts said. Get through winter firstSocial activity remains subdued amid the surge of infections and below-freezing weather in northern cities. Management at Chinese travel booking site Trip.com were also reserved in how soon domestic travel would rebound.

☆ Home flipper profits are slumping at their fastest pace since the 2009 recession and the prognosis isn't any better for 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Last quarter saw the fastest drop in home flipping profits since the Great Recession. down for the Warm and sunny places like Honolulu saw the lowest returns and cities like Buffalo saw the highest. "The high end market has basically vaporized, there's nothing there, " Sharga said, repeating the words of a flipper he knows. Those flippers have healthy profit margins even if the overall dollar amounts aren't as high as with luxury homes, he said. Meanwhile, flippers in cities with harsh winters like Pittsburgh — where the typical flipper made a 116.9% profit — and Buffalo, New York, had the largest returns.

☆ I perform vasectomies in Texas. I've had a huge increase in patients post-Roe — and a lot of them are young and childless.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Cari Shane | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade earlier this year, there's been an uptick in the number of vasectomy requests at my clinic. In the two days immediately following the overturning of Roe, we received 150 vasectomy appointment requests. We were averaging five or six electronic appointment requests for vasectomy consultations per day before the overturning of Roe. I tell my patients that the vasectomy is meant to be permanent sterilizationWhile I love doing reversals, they're not 100%. I think vasectomies are fertility medicineThis is a procedure that I like to do and I think I'm good at.

☆ Netflix's big bet on Harry and Meghan might already be a win for the streamer
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

"Harry and Meghan" dethroned "Wednesday" as Netflix's top series in the US on Friday. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle struck a deal with Netflix in 2020 worth a reported $100 million. "Harry and Meghan" isn't the only piece of content featuring members of the royal family popular on Netflix. Anecdotally, "the younger people in the UK love Harry and Meghan, and the older people don't," Shalit said. "Netflix just wants to have the most-discussed programs in the world, and Meghan and Harry are everywhere throughout the world," he said.

The number of people hospitalized with flu nearly doubled during Thanksgiving week — 19,593 compared to 11,378 people admitted to the hospital the week prior. On Friday, the CDC reported that flu is spreading at high levels in 45 states, even in Southern states and others where the virus has been spreading since October. As of Dec. 2, 77% of pediatric hospital beds nationwide were full, according to Health and Human Services data. There is no data yet to show how protective this year's flu vaccine is against the current strains. Dr. Kavita Patel said that "almost everybody" she's seen test positive for flu at Mary’s Center, a community health center in Maryland, is unvaccinated.

Vaping may increase a person's risk for cavities and tooth decay, preliminary new research suggests. Adding artificial sweeteners and flavorings to the sticky aerosol may create the perfect breeding ground for cavities. The new study, published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Dental Association, is considered preliminary and does not prove that vaping causes cavities. But because e-cigarette usage is so rampant among adolescents — with 2.5 million teens vaping in the United States alone — the possibility that it could increase the risk for tooth decay in this generation is worrisome, experts who study vaping in young people said. Among these high-risk patients, e-cigarette users, Irusa found, were at a "significantly" higher risk of developing cavities, compared with those who did not vape.

☆ Nancy Pelosi said the GOP response to the attack on her husband was 'disgraceful' and people have told her it influenced their vote
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Nancy Pelosi said on CNN that the GOP response to the attack on her husband was "disgraceful." Pelosi added that she has heard anecdotally that it turned some voters off from the GOP. She said Paul Pelosi gets "closer to recovery" with each day following a successful surgery. Pelosi said on CNN that she has heard anecdotally that the GOP response to her husband's assault turned voters off. Paul Pelosi underwent surgery for a skull fracture and was in the hospital for six days following the attack.

☆ Thousands of recently laid off Americans may be experiencing 'unemployment depression.' Here's how to cope, according to a therapist.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Marguerite Ward | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Many of these workers could be at risk of "unemployment depression" right now. Here's an explanation of what some call "unemployment depression," as well as steps to cope with it:We're independent, but we're also lonely. Many people, especially those who are single or live alone, don't have much meaningful contact with humans outside of work, Nelsen added. Here's how to cope with 'unemployment depression.' Get professional help, even if finding an affordable option takes time"Unemployment depression" can feel like real depression, and it can also trigger someone who is prone to clinical depression into a depressive episode.

☆ How a 4-day workweek improved one company's recruitment, retention, and morale — and its workers' well-being
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

She added that the four-day workweek had helped recruitment, retention, and worker well-being. Around that time, she read a book about the promise of the four-day workweek. Thus began her company's participation in a six-month pilot program of a four-day workweek. Insider recently spoke with her about the four-day workweek's effects on the company's retention and recruitment and on the team's health and well-being. But the value of it in terms of retention, recruitment, and health and well-being cannot be overstated.

The surge in restrictive housing — informally known as solitary confinement — has perplexed BOP Director Colette Peters, who told NBC News that she "asked the same question when we saw the numbers come forward, so I'm curious as well." Colette Peters, director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, testifies during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Sept. 29. The federal government houses more than 142,000 inmates in its custody across the United States. It really is limiting the use of restrictive housing when absolutely necessary," Peters said. "We know so much more now from research around what solitary confinement can do to the hearts and minds of those there, and so this is something we need to take very seriously."

☆ Almost every Black officer at this Tennessee police department says they’ve experienced discrimination
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Almost all the 15 Black officers at the police department in Knoxville, Tennessee, have felt discriminated against, according to an external review of the department. Last year, the paper reported that department leadership had attempted to conceal an officer’s racist comments and deter a Black officer from making a complaint about the incident. “If you are a Black officer, you have to work five times harder, and officers will always second-guess you,” one anonymous officer says in the report. Black officers were also the least likely to say they felt there was a clear process for de-escalating problems internally. In recent years, amid many high-profile deaths of Black Americans at the hands of police, a significant number of Black officers have left some of the country’s largest departments.

☆ Should you WFH or take a sick day? What to consider this cold, flu and Covid season
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Jennifer Liu | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

There are already hints that this year's cold and flu season could be bad: The CDC reported early increases in seasonal flu activity, and anecdotally, people are letting their Covid precautions slip and showing up to work sick anyway. If your second at-home test is negative, or if you complete a PCR test that's negative, then you likely don't have Covid, but you could still have another respiratory virus or infection. "You're going to be the best judge as to whether that's a work-from-home day or you can completely sign off." And if a full day off is in order, discuss how you'll be more productive and engaged after you've rested. Yes, you can WFH if your colleague keeps showing up sickNayyar says it's up to managers to model good behavior to stay home while sick.

During the pandemic, states and insurers overnight did what years of advocacy for telemedicine had failed to accomplish. During the pandemic, states and insurers overnight did what years of advocacy for telemedicine had failed to accomplish. It also increases patients’ access to critical information because they can see their own charts and ask questions at any time. Telemedicine access in rural areas is particularly urgent given how many hospitals in these places are shuttering their doors. Whatever the reasoning, navigating the politics and funding streams of our complicated health care system oftentimes takes years to create lasting, positive change.

☆ The credit score you need for popular rewards cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve, Amex Platinum, and Capital One Venture
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Caroline Lupini | Freelance Reporter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +31 min

Knowing the credit score you'll need to be considered for popular rewards credit cards can help you decide which to apply for. Crystal Cox/Business InsiderIt's good to know the credit score you'll need to get approved for a credit card before you apply. Not all rewards credit cards require a high credit score, however. Capital One says you'll need excellent credit to be approved for the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. However, we don't recommend that you dive into rewards credit cards until your score is at least 700.

Monthly debt market data shows foreign investors have been net sellers for seven straight months to August as what had been a lucrative yield premium in China vanished as U.S. interest rates soared. GIMME SHELTERAmid foreign investors' exodus, there are signs of locals following as fast as allowable under capital controls that were tightened after the previous season of heavy outflows in 2016. Moving money is also very difficult as COVID-19 curbs on travel add another layer to capital controls. Data from consultancy Education International Cooperation showed a 41.5% jump in queries about study in Hong Kong between January and July, compared with the same period a year earlier. They expect a rush to Hong Kong products when the border between Hong Kong and the mainland reopens.

☆ With product innovation lagging, Silicon Valley bets on a fresh coat of paint
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN Business —When Google unveiled its new Pixel 7 smartphone lineup earlier this month, the devices looked largely the same as the year prior. Google has also swapped the stormy black (a stormy black) option on the Pixel 6 for obsidian (still black) on the Pixel 7. The emphasis on a new color palette for devices isn’t unique to Google. Apple’s new iPhone 14 lineup comes in Starlight (a champagne color) and midnight (black), and the company has previously unveiled two shades of green (“green” and “alpine green”) and purple (“purple” and “deep purple”). “Color names that are descriptive but odd can spark positive reactions because the consumer likes being able to ‘solve the puzzle,’” she said.

☆ Democrats are getting a boost from an unlikely source: Laid-off tech workers with more free time
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( David Ingram | David Ingram Covers Tech For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

Like many tech workers and investors, she moved to San Francisco from elsewhere — Michigan, in her case — and still feels invested in the politics of her home state. Whether there’s a tech expertise gap between Democrats and Republicans is difficult to measure. The Republican State Leadership Committee, which works to elect Republicans at the state level, didn’t respond to requests for comment. Some tech workers are in their third election cycles as volunteers, giving them a base of experience to work from. Given its size, Tech for Campaigns can test different messages and tactics across states.

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