A US Marine veteran is treated by medical workers in a negative pressure room in the Covid-19 ward at the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Boston healthcare system campus and medical center in West Roxbury, Massachusetts on January 11, 2022.
The acting Food and Drug Administration Commissioner warned the U.S. lawmakers this week that police, hospital and transportation services should not break down because of the unprecedented wave of omicron infections across the country.
Woodcock testified before the Senate health committee on Tuesday that it was hard to process what was happening right now. We need to make sure that the hospitals can still function, that transportation is not disrupted, and that other essential services are not disrupted.
In the same way that public officials were trying to contain the spread of Covid last winter, businesses and public services are limiting hours. This year, so many workers are out sick with the virus, it is disrupting services that public officials are otherwise trying to keep open.
Emergency services in New York, Los Angeles, and elsewhere are struggling to staff enough police, nurses, EMTs and firefighters as more and more workers call out with Covid. In New York and Chicago, public officials have been forced to quark people in their homes because of the highly contagious omicron variant, which can cause large swaths of unvaccinated people to go to the hospital.
The US reported a new Covid infections record on Monday with an average of about 750,000 new infections every day over the last week according to a CNBC analysis. The seven-day average was 252,000 new cases a day a year ago.
Hospitalizations are higher than last winter's peak and continue to rise. More than 152,000 people were hospitalized with Covid as of Wednesday, up 18% from the previous week.
The president of the American College of Emergency Physicians said that the strain on frontline workers is worse than any other point in the Pandemic. The whole country is feeling the impact of the surge of cases.
Hospitals faced a shortage of nurses before the US first detected the omicron variant. In September, the American Nurses Association called on the Biden administration to declare a nursing shortage a national crisis, as the delta variant was surging in many parts of the country.
Ernest Grant, president of the ANA, said at the time that the nation's health care delivery systems were overwhelmed and nurses were tired and frustrated. Grant said that nurses alone cannot solve the longstanding issue.
The omicron variant could cause a staff shortage at hospitals by forcing nurses to call out sick. Omicron is able to evade some of the protection provided by the shots, causing more breakthrough infections around the country.
The director of the CDC told reporters that the sudden and steep rise in cases due to omicron is resulting in unprecedented daily case counts. The agency slashed the isolation time for some health-care workers who get Covid, a move that has come under fire by nursing groups across the country.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has been directed by the Biden administration to provide emergency hospital beds and to deploy ambulances and paramedics to transport patients.
Police, fire and transit agencies are struggling with staffing as omicron forces people to call out sick. More than 800 police and firefighters in Los Angeles have been isolated at home due to positive Covid test results.
This is a very difficult time. The omicron variant has taken off like wildfire.
In New York City, 18% of EMTs and 13% of firefighters are out sick with Covid as of Tuesday, down from 30% and 18% respectively a few days prior. The New York City Police Department told CNBC on Tuesday that a quarter of their force was out sick last week.
The New York subway has suspended service on some lines due to staff shortages. The Chicago Transit Authority has told the public that there may be service disruptions due to Covid.
The city and state are being affected by the virus. The mayor of Chicago said Tuesday that she tested positive for Covid and will work from home. She said she was boosted after being fully vaccined. West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice also tested positive, despite being fully vaccine and boosted.
The airlines canceled flights because of omicron infections. As Covid cases surge, airlines have trimmed January schedules, leaving them without pilots and other employees.
The CEO of United told staff on Monday that about 4% of its workforce was positive for Covid.
Scott Kirby said in a staff note that nearly one-third of the workforce called out sick at Newark.
The White House chief medical advisor told the Senate health committee on Tuesday that it is not certain when the omicron wave will peak.
Fauci told lawmakers that it was a very wily virus. It has fooled everyone from the time it first came in to omicron to now, and we are doing the best we can.
CNBC's Leslie Josephs and Nathan Rattner contributed to the report.
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