Bloomberg reading

 The omicron variant of Covid-19 may be less likely to land patients in the hospital than the delta strain, according to three studies of preliminary data. Researchers in Scotland suggest the variant is associated with a two-thirds reduction in the risk of hospitalization when compared with the earlier mutation, though omicron was 10 times more likely to infect people who’d already had the virus. There’s more on the accumulating evidence that omicron seems weaker than its predecessors. —David E. Rovella

Bloomberg is tracking the coronavirus pandemic and the progress of global vaccination efforts.

Article when to use (the)

We don't usually use an article in expressions with bed, work and home.

go to bed / be in bed
go to work / be at work / start work / finish work
go home / be at home / get home / stay at home

We also don't normally use an article in expressions with school, university, prison and hospital.

start school / go to school / be at school
go to university / be at university
be sent to prison / go to prison / be in prison
go to hospital / be in hospital

But we usually use the if someone is just visiting the place, and not there as a student/prisoner/patient, etc.

My son has started school now. I went to the school to meet his teacher.
I went to the prison a lot when I was a social worker.
I'm at the hospital. My sister has just had a baby.

Place names

We don't normally use an article for continents, most countries, cities, towns, lakes, mountains or universities. So, we say:

Africa, Asia, Europe
India, Ghana, Peru, Denmark
Addis Ababa, Hanoi, New York, Moscow
Lake Victoria, Lake Superior, Lake Tanganyika
Mount Everest, Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Elbrus
Cardiff University, Harvard University, Manchester University

Some countries are different. Country names with United have the. There are other countries which are exceptions too. So, we say:

the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States of America
the Bahamas, the Gambia

Seas and oceans, mountain ranges and rivers have the:

the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Mediterranean
the Andes, the Himalayas, the Alps
the Nile, the Amazon, the Yangtze

Universities with of in the title also have the:

the University of Cape Town, the University of Delhi, the University of Tokyo

Do this exercise to test your grammar again.

 1. 

What time do you finish 

-

 work? 

2. 

He's in 

-

 India. 

3. 

When she finishes 

-

  

school, she wants to study medicine at 

-

university. 

4. 

The

 Nile  

is the longest river in 

-

  

Africa. It flows north from 

-

Lake Victoria to the Mediterranean Sea. 

5. 

He's at 

the

 hospital visiting his mum. 

6. 

I'm really tired. I'm going to go 

-

home and go to 

-

 bed early. 

7. 

They're in 

the

 Alps on a climbing holiday. 

8. 

They caught him and he was sent to 

-

 prison.

America’s omicron disconnect Credit Bloomberg weekend reading

 Just when it seemed Americans could start half-thinking about a return to normalcy, the omicron variant presented an unpleasant dose of reality. But while chief executives are putting return-to-office plans on hold, many people are still packing into restaurants and attending big events, creating an uncomfortable disconnect. As the new winter wave of infections gathers steam, U.S. hospitals are again being pushed to the brink. Part of the problem is anti-vaxxers, but they’re not just rural conservatives—in almost half of U.S. states, Black and Hispanic inoculation rates trail those of Whites by at least 10 percentage points. In the face of a coming viral storm, President Joe Biden has been urging all Americans that it’s “past time” to get shots.

Omicron (Bloomberg weekend reading)

 A wild week had the world scrambling to figure out how dangerous the omicron variant of the coronavirus is, but there are still more questions than answers. Drugmakers always knew there would be more mutations, and that battling them without comprehensive data would be the new normal. In another sign the world is facing up to some uncomfortable truths, several countries plan to slap fines, bans and curbs on the unvaccinated. Omicron also threatens to widen an already yawning global gap in access to shots, but it’s the delta variant that’s heaping pressureon healthcare systems right now. Still, Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, warned on Friday that omicron cases may very well sweep across America. The looming question is how the variant will fare when it has to compete where delta is prevalent. “Will it take off and become the dominant variant, or will it get a bit smothered by delta?” Fauci said. 

What you’ll want to read this weekend

Access to abortion in the U.S. looks likely to shrink next year as six Republican-appointed members of the Supreme Court expressed a willingness to narrow or jettison 49 years of precedent. Also in court, the trial of Jeffrey Epstein-associate Ghislaine Maxwell got underway and her lawyers again revealed an alleged victim’s identity.

Berkshire Hathaway’s Charlie Munger says markets are crazierthan during the dotcom boom of the late 1990s and omicron is denting any optimism that the global economy can cope. Add to that a highly anticipated U.S. jobs report that contained conflicting signals.

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A wild week had the world scrambling to figure out how dangerous the omicron variant of the coronavirus is, but there are still more questions than answers. Drugmakers always knew there would be more mutations, and that battling them without comprehensive data would be the new normal. In another sign the world is facing up to some uncomfortable truths, several countries plan to slap fines, bans and curbs on the unvaccinated. Omicron also threatens to widen an already yawning global gap in access to shots, but it’s the delta variant that’s heaping pressureon healthcare systems right now. Still, Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, warned on Friday that omicron cases may very well sweep across America. The looming question is how the variant will fare when it has to compete where delta is prevalent. “Will it take off and become the dominant variant, or will it get a bit smothered by delta?” Fauci said.  What you’ll want to read this weekend Access to abortion in the U.S. looks likely to shrink next year as six Republican-appointed members of the Supreme Court expressed a willingness to narrow or jettison 49 years of precedent. Also in court, the trial of Jeffrey Epstein-associate Ghislaine Maxwell got underway and her lawyers again revealed an alleged victim’s identity. Berkshire Hathaway’s Charlie Munger says markets are crazierthan during the dotcom boom of the late 1990s and omicron is denting any optimism that the global economy can cope. Add to that a highly anticipated U.S. jobs report that contained conflicting signals. Did you forget to ask Santa for an iPhone? Apple told suppliers that demand is slowing. Jack Dorsey stepped down from Twitter, then changed the name of his other company to Block. Bloomberg Opinion had a wide-ranging discussion about his complicatedlegacy. And here’s a look at how cryptocurrency has spawned speculators, saloons and now sheriffs. Jack Dorsey Photographer: Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg Eight-digit pay isn’t enough for the bigwigs at Goldman Sachs. They say they’re not getting enough, so they’ve been searching for ways to fatten their comp. And at Big Oil’s Exxon Mobil, U.S. employees can forget about raises keeping pace with inflation. What do Alexey Navalny, MacKenzie Scott and Britney Spears have in common? They’re all in the Bloomberg 50, Businessweek’s annual look at the people and ideas that defined global business over the past year. Did we put the Popeyes Chicken Sandwich on the list in 2019? Yes. Is our 2021 version less tasty? Perhaps, but no less culturally significant.