Christmas shoppers pack stores amid coronavirus as restaurants are locked down
Shopping in crowded stores is high risk, CDC warns
With just one day left until the Christmas holiday, shoppers across the country are heading to local malls in droves — braving COVID-19 pandemic risks and forgoing social distancing in order to hunt down last-minute presents.
In California, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's second stay-at-home order has been met with even more resistance than before — both from residents as well as small businesses struggling to make ends meet.
Livermore's San Francisco Premium Outlets in the Bay area were packed, according to Twitter users. NBC Bay Area footage showed lines of people snaking around parking lots.
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Under orders in Alameda County, retail and shopping malls are allowed to operate at a limited capacity, according to SF Gate. Restaurants, bars, and personal care centers are closed as cases have spiked.
Just a half-an-hour away, Walnut Creek shoppers filled the Broadway Plaza despite wait times, with some stores only allowing one or two customers inside at a time.
Holiday shoppers keep their distance and wear face masks while riding an escalator to battle the spread of the new coronavirus Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020, in Park Meadows Mall in Lone Tree, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
In San Diego – where ICU beds are near 80% capacity – shopping mall employees told NBC7 the weekend felt "five times busier" than last.
Up the coast in Portland, Ore., mall managers reported witnessing similar scenes at Clackamas Town Center.
The East Coast was no exception, with stores still bustling after "Super Saturday" – the Saturday before Christmas – in states like Ohio, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Florida.
While online sales 2020 have hit a record high – Adobe is forecasting $189 billion this season – as Americans shop from home, delayed deliveries due to U.S. Postal Service woes have thrown a wrench in carefully-planned gift exchanges.
Millions of packages are likely to be late this year, as the organization juggles coronavirus vaccine distribution, the Georgia Senate runoff elections, stimulus checks, and medications in addition to the holiday season influx and regular mail.
It's been a hard year for the USPS, which received $10 billion from the U.S. Department of the Treasury in order to continue operating.
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That said, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said in-person holiday shopping in crowded stores is considered a high-risk activity.
According to the National Retail Federation, 150 million Americans said they planned to shop on Super Saturday alone, up from 148 million in 2019.