somebody else. so at the end of the day, we are in this holiday season, we all want to be seeing our loved ones, but now is the time when we really want to be safe, so that, guess what, once we get the vaccine and hopefully we re protected, we can see them in the future and a year from now have a wonderful and much safer holiday season. yuccas: dr. jon lapook, thank you. it s not just the u.s. that is suffering in this devastating covid spike. countries like canada have been plunged into fresh lockdowns by a surge of infections, and europe is once again a global epicenter like the pandemic. cbs news senior foreign correspondent elizabeth palmer reports. reporter: in liverpool, the military helped out with a vast trial of new rapid coronavirus tests. if they work well, the idea is to test everyone in england, every week, as politicians in the west grapple with guidelines for a covid-safe christmas and holiday season.
thanksgiving. six million more than last year. black friday was big too. 89 million brave the crowds in search of those hard to beat bargains up from 86 million last year. the biggest wish list is reporter: americans spent more too. the average shopper spent $423 this weekend up from 398 last year for a total of $59.1 billion. it s not just the store seeing the boom. for the first time online spending topped $1 billion on black friday well before so called cyber monday also expected to break records. great for me. don t have to get off the couch. we don t have to go anywhere. it s easier shopping. reporter: while shoppers were out in holiday force this weekend, not emp wveryone was spending freely. many shoppers say they will be cautious concerned about the economy and the gridlock of the