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Zero-Covid Policy Shakes Hong Kong’s Economy and Its ‘Soul’

HONG KONG — Perry Lam felt confident that his business had weathered the worst of the pandemic. Several rounds of bar closures in Hong Kong had dimmed the city’s vibrant […]




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A Quandary for New York Restaurants and Workers: What to Do About Omicron?

After Nikolas Vagenas, a bartender at Apotheke in Chinatown and Bar Meridian in Brooklyn, tested positive for the virus in mid-December, he tried to apply for unemployment benefits both over […]







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Bosses Have a New Headache: How Long Should Sick Workers Isolate?

Barbara Sibley’s four New York restaurants had already weathered the city’s initial Covid-19 wave, the prevaccine surge last winter and this summer’s Delta spike when last weekend it finally happened: […]




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As Virus Cases Rise in Europe, an Economic Toll Returns

“It was a shock” when the lockdown was announced, she said, adding that it was too early to predict the scale of the losses she could incur. “We just have […]




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Tokyo’s Olympic Bubble? Wait Till You See Beijing’s.

BEIJING — Guards in biohazard suits, ready to stop anyone from leaving. Athletes giving interviews from behind plastic walls, speaking through microphones. All-day armpit thermometers, with tiny transmitters to sound […]







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Hurt by Lockdowns, California’s Small Businesses Push to Recall Newsom

Small businesses across the country have suffered from shutdowns that sometimes seem to flare up as suddenly as surges in the coronavirus itself. Restaurants, gyms, corner stores and spas have […]




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25 Days That Changed the World: How Covid-19 Slipped China’s Grasp

Politically, it was a perilous situation for both men.As its trade war with China escalated, the Trump administration had all but eliminated a public health partnership with Beijing that had […]