This post may refer to COVID-19
To access official information about the coronavirus, access CDC - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
www.cnn.com
The Covid-19 case surge is altering daily life across the US. Things will likely get worse, experts warn
The US is ringing in the new year amid a Covid-19 surge that experts warn is exploding at unprecedented speed and could alter daily life for many Americans during the first month of 2022.
Health
(CNN)The US is ringing in the new year amid a Covid-19 surge that experts warn is exploding at unprecedented speed and could alter daily life for many Americans during the first month of 2022.
"Omicron is truly everywhere," Dr. Megan Ranney, a professor of emergency medicine at Brown University's School of Public Health, told CNN on Friday night. "What I am so worried about over the next month or so is that our economy is going to shut down, not because of policies from the federal government or from the state governments, but rather because so many of us are ill."
The nation broke records at least four times this week for its seven-day average of new daily Covid-19 cases, reporting an all-time high of more than 386,000 new daily infections Friday, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University. The high case count is already causing disruptions in the country.
In New York City, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is plagued with staffing issues and announced three subway lines -- the B, Z and W -- which service various parts of the boroughs, have been suspended.
"Like everyone in New York, we've been affected by the COVID surge. We're running as much train service as we can with the operators we have available," the MTA wrote on Twitter Thursday.
Healthcare services -- exhausted after several surges of the virus and now stretched thin again by a growing number of Covid-19 patients -- are also already feeling impacts. The University of Maryland Capital Region Health this week joined a growing list of medical centers in the state to activate emergency protocols after a sharp rise in cases fueled staffing shortages and overwhelmed emergency departments.
"The current demand for care is depleting our available resources, including staffing," UM Capital Region Health said in a statement on Friday.
In Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine on Wednesday announced the deployment of about 1,250 National Guard members as hospitals struggle with staffing shortages.
On the same day, the mayor of Cincinnati declared a state of emergency due to staffing shortages in the city's fire department following a rise in Covid-19 infections. The mayor's declaration said that if the staffing problem goes unaddressed, it would "substantially undermine" first responders' readiness levels.
"Get ready. We have to remember, in the next few weeks, there's going to be an unprecedented number of social disruptions," Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of Baylor University's National School of Tropical Medicine, told CNN.
Those include flight disruptions as well, he said, because of TSA agent and air crew absences.
Thousands of flights have already been canceled or delayed throughout the holiday season as staff and crew called out sick. On Friday, the Federal Aviation Administration said an "increased number" of its employees were testing positive for the virus, and that "to maintain safety, traffic volume at some facilities could be reduced, which might result in delays during busy periods."