Tension mounts as the flood waters of Omicron patients converge upon U.S. hospitals. Very little was done after the peak hospitalizations of January, 2021—around 120-130,000—created such pressures and horrors upon nurses and doctors. Now, many hospitals are severely understaffed, and COVID-19 hospitalizations in the U.S. (on a 14-day running average) are up from 72,500 a week ago to 102,400. The Department of Health and Human Services reports that there were now 113,000 patients as of Wednesday. Various hospital systems, state health departments, and governors are struggling with proposals to grab up whatever personnel and supplies they can lay hands on, to try to weather the storm the next couple of weeks.
