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NEW YORK—With 20 days in a row of more than 100,000 new COVID-19 cases per day throughout the U.S., according to The COVID Tracking Project, optical sales nationwide remained flat over the past week. For the week of Nov. 16-22, only two categories—gross revenue and lens pairs—showed an uptick of 1 index point, according to the Jobson COVID-19 Practice Performance Tracker. Regionally, optical sales were either flat or changed by only 1 index point up or down.

The Midwest region was down 1 index point for exams/refractions and frame units, while the West and South regions were up 1 index point in the same categories. The South was also the only region to show an increase in the category of lens pairs, increasing by 1 index point. The only categories showing more substantial changes were gross revenue in the South (up 2 index points) and contact lenses in the Northeast (down 2 index points).

The Jobson COVID-19 Practice Performance Tracker data is compiled by Jobson Research from GPN and ABB Analyze data. Another element of the report illustrates Consumer Sentiments about the COVID-19 response and purchasing intentions, with data supplied by The Vision Council. 

This index baseline was developed by Jobson Research from total sales from an average 7 days in the first quarter of 2019.

Click here to view the complete Jobson COVID-19 Performance Tracker.