If you visit the Google Support pages, any of them, at support.google.com, you will see a banner at the top come up again. The banner says "as a precautionary health measure for our support specialists in light of COVID-19, we're operating with a limited team."
The message goes on to say "if you need help with a product whose support you had trouble reaching over the phone, consult its product-specific Help Center." This message is across all the support and help areas, including the forums and other help documentation. Here is a screen shot of it:
Google had a similar message up for several months when it locked down in March 2020 due to COVID. It is sad to see this message go back up, right when we all thought we are at the tail-end of this pandemic.
It seems Google posted this recently, although, I know Google had this message up for months after March. I think Google started adding the message on top of other support areas recently as well. I am not sure if this is related to the Omicron variant of COVID or the upcoming holiday season but it does make me sad.
The notice links to this page that says:
During the unprecedented COVID-19 situation, we are taking steps to protect the health of our team members and reduce the need for people to come into our offices. As a result, there may be some temporary limitations and delays in support in some cases as we prioritize critical services.The fastest way to get support is through our Help Centers. Here you can find information about our products, including troubleshooting information for top issues.
This new variant was named on Friday by the WHO who said that based on the evidence presented indicative of a detrimental change in COVID-19 epidemiology, the TAG-VE has advised WHO that this variant should be designated as a VOC, and the WHO has designated B.1.1.529 as a VOC, named Omicron.
Forum discussion at Google Support Forums.
