Health concerns arising from the outbreak of a health epidemic or pandemic, including
COVID-19,
have had and will, for the foreseeable future, continue to have, an adverse effect on our business. Our business has been and will, for the foreseeable future, continue to be adversely affected by potential outbreaks of widespread pandemics, including the rise of various strains of coronavirus, such as
COVID-19,
or avian flu or swine flu, such as H1N1, particularly if any such outbreak is located in regions from which we derive a significant amount of revenue or profit. For example, our operations in China experienced disruptions due to
COVID-19,
first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. As a result of
COVID-19,
authorities around the world have implemented numerous measures to try to contain the disease, such as travel bans and restrictions, quarantines, shelter in place orders and shutdowns, vaccine requirements and mask mandates, among others. Although various jurisdictions are lifting restrictions that were introduced as a result of the
COVID-19
pandemic, it is difficult to predict the speed and impact of any economic recovery. It is similarly difficult to predict the impact of a potential resurgence of
COVID-19
and the
re-imposition
of travel and social distancing restrictions. The number of
COVID-19
cases continues to increase in certain parts of the world and the pandemic has had a detrimental impact on the global economy and the financial markets and economies of many countries, with the ongoing global economic impact remaining difficult to predict. We have taken a number of actions that have impacted and continue to impact our business, including transitioning employees across our offices to remote arrangements and implementing new safety measures at our production facilities. While we believe such actions were necessary and reasonable as a result of the
COVID-19
pandemic, to the extent such actions prove unsuccessful or limit our ability to maintain production capacity in the future, our financial results may be materially and adversely impacted. We believe
COVID-19
has had a negative effect on demand for certain of our products (particularly in our GMF segment), and, in turn, our financial results, including the year ended December 31, 2021. It remains difficult to predict the ongoing impact of
COVID-19
on our business and
COVID-19
may continue to impact our financial results in the future.