[The Editors' Verdict] The Two Lines Created by Omicron

Not long ago, I stopped by a temporary screening clinic near my home to get tested for COVID-19. Despite the late hour past 7 p.m. and the biting winter cold, the waiting line seemed to stretch at least 200 meters. People had to walk around the district office building where the screening clinic was located just to get tested. Seeing the number of people waiting, I had a foreboding feeling that COVID-19 cases would surge soon. Sure enough, news followed that new confirmed cases had been breaking records day after day.

On the 31st of this month, it will be exactly two years since COVID-19 was first reported. When COVID-19 first appeared, hardly anyone predicted that this infectious disease would last this long. Two years have passed, yet it remains uncertain when COVID-19 will finally end. With the emergence of the new Omicron variant, the number of patients is soaring even higher. As of the 27th, the number of new COVID-19 cases worldwide reached 1.44 million, breaking the previous record.

Earlier this year, humanity was filled with hope for vaccines. It was believed that victory in the war against COVID-19 would soon be achieved. However, uneven vaccine distribution and vaccine hesitancy caused vaccination rates to stagnate, and meanwhile, a new variant called Omicron emerged. Although the risk of hospitalization from Omicron is significantly lower compared to the previous Delta variant, if the number of confirmed cases grows uncontrollably, the healthcare system will inevitably collapse.

The Omicron variant is understood to have become the dominant strain in advanced countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom. It is only a matter of time before it becomes dominant in South Korea as well. The exact extent of Omicron’s impact is still unclear. Consequently, economic uncertainty is also increasing. Companies are struggling to plan their business strategies for next year.

In this era of uncertainty, we are encountering unfamiliar scenes never seen before.

Last weekend, luxury stores in New York City were reportedly packed with shoppers for Christmas, leaving no room to step. However, right next to the luxury stores, a temporary COVID-19 testing site also had a long line. These two very different lines symbolically represent the reality we are living in during the second year of the pandemic.

In the United States, even as hundreds of thousands of new COVID-19 cases occur daily, consumer sentiment is reviving. Retail sales during this year’s year-end shopping season (November 1 to December 24) increased by 8.5% compared to the previous year.

A similar phenomenon is observed in South Korea. This year, the number of department stores with annual sales exceeding 1 trillion won doubled to 10 compared to last year. For small business owners and self-employed individuals, the impact varies dramatically depending on the industry.

COVID-19 has brought many changes to us. Experts say it is difficult to predict the economic situation going forward. According to a recent survey, 72% of global corporate executives are concerned about retirement due to the rapidly changing business environment.

We find ourselves in an ironic situation where, on the same day, we encounter articles both fearing an economic recession triggered by Omicron and celebrating record highs in the New York stock market. One thing is clear: the third year of the pandemic will be different from before.

The word of the year 2021 chosen by the Merriam-Webster dictionary was “vaccine.” Wall Street investors in the United States are naming “resilience” as the keyword for next year. Despite the chaos caused by Omicron, we hope that new hope will sprout in the coming year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.