PLEASE BRIEFLY SUMMARIZE THIS ARTICLE and come up with a economic plan to help how businesses have been affected.

"one year ago this month, WHO declared a global pandemic. Through a long and dismal year, McKinsey has tracked the development of COVID-19 and its devastation and disruption. Today, we mark the milestone with a set of new reports and articles that look ahead with considerable optimism to the second year of the pandemic. Public health is still the chief concern. In the latest installment of our perspectives on when the pandemic will end, we see progress toward normalcy during the second quarter of 2021 in the United Kingdom and the United States and herd immunity in the third quarter (Exhibit 1). The new wave of cases in the European Union means that these transitions are likely to come later. But new variants of the coronavirus and other risks threaten that timeline. New US COVID-19 cases rose sharply in late 2020 and, until recently, declined nearly as steeply during the first few months of 2021. This pattern is similar to that of other respiratory viruses in the winter months, but in this case, many are not sure precisely why it has happened. One unexplored factor may be at work: the different patterns of human interactions. Some people get out and about much more than others, but most epidemiological models dont account for that. The global economy has rebounded from the lows of 2020 (stock markets have too, though in different ways), but its future direction is hazy, even by the standards of economic forecasting. Throughout the crisis, we have offered two essential tools for business leaders to plot a course; this month, we updated both of them. In April 2020, we published a set of nine scenarios as part of our economic model and surveyed thousands of global business executives about their economic outlook. Our latest survey finds greater optimism about the economy and corporate prospects than at any time since the crisis beganand on a few fronts, more than in the past several years (Exhibit 2). Still, weak demand continues to threaten corporate growth, and the pandemic remains the biggest risk to growth in respondents countries. See our interactives about the scenarios and the surveys here. Productivity has long been a weak spot in global growth, but the crisis might have kick-started a rise in productivity. As companies shifted rapidly to online channels, automated production tasks, increased operational efficiency, and sped up decision making and innovation of operating models, productivity also roseand more growth may be in store. New McKinsey Global Institute research finds that there is potential to accelerate annual productivity growth by about one percentage point in the period to 2024. The stakes are high. One percentage point of additional productivity growth per year in every country to 2024 would imply an increase in per capita GDP ranging from about $1,500 in Spain to about $3,500 in the United States. How do companies find the extra gear needed for a sustained burst in productivity? As our researchers suggest, speed thrills but also chills: companies need to work through five critical questions in the next few months to lock in the speed of the pandemic response in a way that does not wreck mental health or cause employees to burnout. According to a McKinsey survey, productivity is up for about half of all workers, with the other half reporting no change or lower productivity. Tilting that balance will be vital. Also this week: The McKinsey Podcast listened in on the postpandemic state of fashion (its sweatpants today, but tomorrow will be different). And our industry researchers took a look at African banking in the new reality and the path forward for European grocers. Business leaders crave new perspectives. In Our Asian Voices, a new feature, 72 Asian colleagues at McKinsey raise their voices and share their storieson what Asian identity means, what allies can do to support them, and how they are processing this moment. Our Author Talks series features the writers of the best new business books; in this weeks edition, Saadia Madsbjerg speaks on making money moral. For more perspectives, please see the full collection of our coronavirus-related content, visual insights from our chart of the day, a curated collection of our first 100 articles related to the coronavirus, our suite of tools to help leaders respond to the pandemic, and how our editors choose images that help readers visualize the impact of an invisible threat. This briefing note was edited by Mark Staples, an executive editor in the New York office. This week, we spoke with two prominent executives about whats stuck with them from their pandemic experience. Chris Kempczinski, CEO of McDonalds, spoke with senior partner Greg Kelly about how the company has worked hard to stay relevant. For a restaurant chain in the crisis, that means excelling at delivery; McDonalds expanded the number of its locations offering delivery to more than 30,000. Leena Nair, chief human-resources officer of Unilever, shared her strategies for caring about 150,000 employees with senior partner Mary Meaney and executive editor Astrid Sandoval. For those in the workforce wondering when 2020s pace of work might relent, heres one encouraging sign: Nair says, This speed is unsustainable. Also this week, our industry researchers examined the potential for Vietnam to rebuild tourism, the ecosystem opportunity for mobility companies, and the pleasant surprises B2B companies have discovered as they adapted to online sales. Finally, in the pandemic, many of us have spent more time with our children than we used to, and weve learned from them. In our new edition of McKinsey for Kids, we attempt to return the favor by taking a look at the food distribution system and food waste. Please share it with your young people, and let us know what they think. Business leaders crave new perspectives. Check out our series of Author Talks, which features the writers of the best new business books. This weeks additions to the series include Gregory B. Fairchild on the next frontier in racial equality and Nicolai Tillisch on how to frame ambition (and not let it frame you). For more perspectives, please see the full collection of our coronavirus-related content, visual insights from our chart of the day, a curated collection of our first 100 articles related to the coronavirus, our suite of tools to help leaders respond to the pandemic, and how our editors choose images that help readers visualize the impact of an invisible threat."