{"id":153339,"date":"2021-12-17T02:00:35","date_gmt":"2021-12-17T12:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=153339"},"modified":"2021-12-17T08:35:55","modified_gmt":"2021-12-17T18:35:55","slug":"economic-recovery-resumes-omicron-looms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2021\/12\/17\/economic-recovery-resumes-omicron-looms\/","title":{"rendered":"Economic recovery resumes, but Omicron looms"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

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Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>\u2019s economic recovery, which resumed with the end of a late-summer COVID-19 Delta wave, faces an uncertain threat from the Omicron variant. That\u2019s according to a new report from the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Economic Research Organization<\/a> (UHERO<\/abbr>), released on December 17.<\/p>\n

“At this point, more is unknown than known about Omicron. We do not yet know whether it is more or less virulent than earlier variants, or whether it can evade the protection of existing vaccines,” said the forecast. “The good news for Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> is our very high vaccination rate, which will surely provide some protection. And new treatments will reduce the severity of health impacts. Our underlying economic fundamentals are strong. But it is increasingly clear that COVID-19 will not just go away, and that efforts to adapt to ongoing risks will be key to a sustained recovery.”<\/p>\n

Other highlights of the report:<\/p>\n