US hospitals struggle with staffing shortages and Omicron outbreaks

As the holidays approach - and some health workers contract Covid - experts warn of an unmanageable crush of patients

On her fourth day of Covid symptoms, Ruth woke up in the worst pain of her life. It felt like her joints were filled with broken glass; she couldn't walk, couldn't move. It was worse than childbirth," she said.

When friends texted to check on her, she couldn't hold the phone or move her fingers to write back. Her doctor called in medication, and it took Ruth 40 minutes to shuffle to the pharmacy half a block away.