Anxiety and pandemic fatigue are spiking amid latest COVID surge

CHICAGO — Like so many COVID-weary Americans, Kyle Hopwood thought the pandemic was winding down over the summer, as virus case counts in the Chicago area waned and life seemed to inch closer to normal. She was relieved after getting vaccinated against COVID-19, and tentatively began dining at restaurants and resuming small get-togethers with loved ones. Hopwood and her fiance set a wedding date for September 2022, assuming that by then the pandemic would be a distant memory. But then came colder weather — as well as the highly contagious omicron variant of the virus — and infections soared on...