With thousands of press releases published each week, it can be difficult to keep up with everything on PR Newswire for Journalists. Here are some of this week’s most newsworthy:

Study Helps Explain Declines in Death Rates from COVID-19

Fewer New Yorkers are dying from the coronavirus than health experts had anticipated, a new study shows. Regional death rates have dropped from the highs seen at the start of the outbreak, partially due to a shift in the population contracting the disease toward those who are more resilient. After New York became the epicenter for the pandemic in early March, with tens of thousands dying from COVID-19, experts had expected that the infection would remain as deadly in the following months.

Consumers Engaging in Holiday Shopping This Year Will Spend 18% Less Than Last Year; 41% Are Not Going to Black Friday Sales in Person: KPMG Survey

Consumers plan on buying fewer gifts and spending less this holiday season, with an 18% reduction in their average budget from last year, a KPMG LLP survey found. Forty-one percent of consumers also said that they are not planning on going to Black Friday sales in person.

Fortune Reveals 23rd Annual List of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business

On Oct. 19, Fortune announced the 2020 edition of its Most Powerful Women in Business list, which includes 16 Fortune 500 CEOs, and the return of Jane Fraser, who in February 2021 will become the first woman to head a major U.S. bank. Top honors go to Accenture CEO Julie Sweet for the first time. Of the selection process for this year’s list, Kristen Bellstrom and Beth Kowitt write, “Simply put, 2020 is the year when we said a final goodbye to business as usual. So as we prepared our 23rd Most Powerful Women list, it became clear that the approach we have taken with this ranking for the past 22 years must change too.”

PBS Promotes Sylvia Bugg to Serve as Chief of Programming

On Oct. 20, PBS announced the promotion of Sylvia Bugg to serve as chief programming executive and general manager, general audience programming. Bugg will take on this new role immediately and report directly to PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger.

U.S. News Unveils 2021 Best Global Universities Rankings

U.S. News & World Report on Oct. 20 released the 2021 edition of the Best Global Universities rankings. With data on nearly 1,500 schools, the rankings evaluate universities from dozens of countries on academic research and reputation.

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Larry Grady is online content manager at PR Newswire for Journalists.  He has worked in business media for nearly 30 years and enjoys reality TV and daydreaming about travel and wine.