Two years into the pandemic, COVID-19 continues to take surprising turns, disrupting the global economy through multiple channels—public health, work, education, travel, consumer spending patterns, production of goods and services, and international trade flows. Just as regions were rebounding from the Delta variant, the Omicron variant emerged, sending global COVID-19 infection rates to new highs. As 2022 begins, economies are adapting to the new, highly contagious variant. While considerably milder than previous strains, Omicron is dampening supply and demand in the most-affected regions, delaying resolution of ... (full story)