Chicago/New York | Businesses across the US are temporarily closing or adjusting working hours as the number of Americans infected with COVID-19 reaches an all-time high, underscoring how disruptions linked to the omicron variant have rippled through the economy.

Airlines, retailers, restaurants, hospitals and school districts are among those saying they are struggling to remain fully staffed because the current wave of infections has worsened an existing labour shortage by making many of their staff ill, or requiring them to stay at home to quarantine.

Financial Times