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.