Two years into the pandemic, the emergence of yet another COVID-19 variant has brought home the fact that the virus is here to stay. That means the world will need to find long-term strategies to coexist with delta, omicron and the strains to come.

As governments reopen at varying paces, there are things individuals and companies can do to navigate a careful return to some kind of normalcy. Simple but permanent changes in how people live and work can limit the risks.

¡°So far, the governments have been responsible for people¡¯s behavior but I don¡¯t think they will intervene so much anymore, and it¡¯s becoming individual choice,¡± said Benjamin Cowling, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Hong Kong.