Coronavirus: Year of the Tiger’s subdued celebrations with signs of hope

People across Asia prepared for muted Lunar New Year celebrations on Monday amid concerns over the coronavirus and virulent Omicron variant, even as increasing vaccination rates raised hopes that the Year of the Tiger might bring life back closer to normal.The Lunar New Year is the most important annual holiday in China and falls on Tuesday, February 1 this year. Each year is named after one of twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac in a repeating cycle. The Year of the Tiger follows the Year of…