Page 41 - Van Til News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Since the start of the pandemic, masks have become a ubiquitous part of daily life. They've been a way to stop the spread of the coronavirus that's killed more than 3.3 million people worldwide, including more than 580,000 in the United States. Indiana dropped its statewide mask requirement last month, but most businesses and other establishments still required, or at least recommended, face coverings indoors. Now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is saying fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks inside in most cases in what some have heralded as a sign that a return...

Blame it on the coronavirus pandemic. It's one of the many products — along with toilet paper, cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer, paper products, meat and semiconductors — for which COVID-19 has disrupted the supply chain. "A lot of it is based on COVID," said Dave Bryan, whose family owns Bryan's Florist & Greenhouse in Gary and Merrillville. "It's affected suppliers in South America, in Bogota and Ecuador, where workers don't have access to the vaccines. One business we've had a standing order of four cases for 15 years shut down. The grower is gone." Bryan said it's largely...

The coronavirus pandemic greatly disrupted the retail sector, on which it may have a lasting impact. When COVID-19 swept across the nation last March, supermarkets had to scramble to figure out how to keep in-demand items like toilet paper, hand sanitizer, bread and cleaning supplies in stock while ramping up home delivery and curbside pickup. Other shops deemed non-essential had to come up with new ideas on how to keep revenue coming in the door when the state ordered them closed, such as turning to e-commerce, engaging more with clientele on social media and selling gift cards that could be...

Many transactions that used to require a visit to a bank branch, such as to deposit a check or wire someone money, now can be done with a smartphone in the comfort of one's own home. As more banking has migrated online and to mobile devices, banks closed a record 3,324 brick-and-mortar branches across the United States last year, according to the business intelligence data service S&P Global Market Intelligence. Big national banks like U.S. Bancorp and Wells Fargo & Co. closed the most. The shrinking of banks' physical footprints nationwide included net closings of 58 branches in Indian...

Indiana's statewide mask mandate ends Tuesday, but that doesn't mean people will be able to waltz into privately owned businesses without a face mask. Many retailers and restaurants across Northwest Indiana plan to heed the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other medical experts and continue to require masks on their premises. While some merchants may drop the mask requirement after the state ceases to mandate face coverings, big corporate chains and local mom-and-pop shops alike said they would continue to require masks on the property as a way to limit the sprea...