On Dec. 28, the United States broke the daily record for COVID-19 cases. The seven-day average reached 267,000, with New York, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C., among those the hardest hit.

Across the nation, hospitals are declaring “healthcare disasters” despite the Biden administration’s billions of new expenditures on stimulus and subsidy expansion. At year two of the pandemic, the concern for hospitals is now due to staffing shortages. But with the highly contagious omicron variant spreading, hospitals are buckling down to maintain control.