Wall Street Journal (January 13)
“The U.K. appears to have passed the peak of the latest wave of Covid-19 caused by Omicron, a promising sign that the highly transmissible variant’s impact may be brief, if intense, and fueling optimism that the pandemic may be waning.”
Tags: Brief, COVID-19, Impact, Intense, Omicron, Optimism, Pandemic, Peak, Promising, Transmissible, U.K., Variant, Wave
San Francisco Chronicle (January 10)
“As the omicron variant once again scrambles well-laid plans, possibly killing the return-to-office date altogether,” millions of workers hope they will “never have to work in an office full time again.” The initial response to COVID may have appeared confined to “a niche, tech-world revolution,” but this has “spread to nearly every sort of job where remote work is possible,” close to 50% of the U.S. workforce.
Tags: Covid, Full-time, Office, Omicron, Plans, Remote, Return, Revolution, Scrambles, Tech-world, U.S., Variant, Workers
Wall Street Journal (January 6)
“Investors are bracing themselves for volatility in 2022. Easing supply chain snarls, potential interest rate increases and slowing growth in corporate earnings are all being closely watched. Contributing to the murky picture: a mixed economic recovery, complicated by the fast-moving Omicron variant of Covid-19, which is making it harder for investors to consider whether to readjust portfolios toward value stocks.”
Tags: 2022, COVID-19, Earnings, Growth, Interest rates, Investors, Murky, Omicron, Portfolio, Recovery, Slowing, Snarls, Supply chain, Variant, Volatility
Associated Press (January 1)
“New Year’s Eve, which used to be celebrated globally with a free-spirited wildness, felt instead like a case of deja vu, with the fast-spreading omicron variant again filing hospitals.”
Tags: Celebrated, Déjà vu, Fast-spreading, Free-spirited, Hospitals, New Year’s Eve, Omicron, Variant, Wildness
Washington Post (December 29)
“Across the nation and the world, people who thought they knew how to avoid covid are getting a rude surprise. Safety precautions that had for so long felt talismanic ― get vaccinated, mask up, avoid large indoor gatherings — have in the past week or two collapsed under the weight of omicron, a much more highly transmissible variant than the ones before it.”
Tags: Avoid, Collapsed, Covid, Indoor gatherings, Mask, Omicron, Rude surprise, Safety precautions, Transmissible, Vaccinated, Variant, World
The Guardian (December 28)
The UK has seen another record rise of daily Covid cases, with 138,831 reported in England, Scotland and Wales alone.” Still, there may be cause for hope. “Although hospital admissions had increased in recent weeks as Omicron spreads through the population, fewer patients were needing high-flow oxygen and the average length of stay was down to three days.”
Tags: Admissions, Cases, Covid, England, Hospital, Omicron, Oxygen, Patients, Record, Rise, Scotland, UK, Wales
Wall Street Journal (December 23)
“Businesses, schools, hospitals and governments are preparing for a new year with a sense of déjà vu, as the spread of Covid-19’s Omicron variant brings a familiar challenge: how best to navigate another surge. This time, they’re hopeful they can stay open and operating.”
Tags: Businesses, Challenge, COVID-19, Déjà vu, Governments, Hospitals, Omicron, Schools, Spread, Surge, Variant
San Francisco Chronicle (December 16)
While there have only been 10 omicron cases in Santa Clara, “officials have “found the highly contagious variant in all four of the county’s wastewater treatment facilities, encompassing most of the local population.” The CDC said the new variant now accounts for about 3% of all cases nationwide “with the highest—13%–in the New York-New Jersey area.”
Tags: CDC, Contagious, New Jersey, New York, Officials, Omicron, Santa Clara, Treatment facilities, Variant, Wastewater
New York Times (December 7)
“Stocks have swung wildly since the Omicron variant of the coronavirus emerged, once again raising concerns about the pandemic’s potential to damage the global economy.” In two years of “market upheaval,” a pattern has emerged. “Each bout of pandemic-driven volatility in the stock market since February 2020 has been shorter than the one before, and followed by a recovery to a new high. “
Tags: Coronavirus, Global economy, Losses, Market upheaval, Omicron, Pandemic, Peak, Recovery, S&P 500, Stocks, Volatility
