As US west braces for omicron surge, leaders take a hands-off approach

Experts call for public health measures beyond vaccines as health workers describe a war zone'

As the highly transmissible Omicron variant began to surge across Colorado this month, Governor Jared Polis adopted a laissez-faire tone. Asked in a radio interview about the possibility of reinstating a statewide mask mandate, he replied that, with Covid vaccines now widely available, getting sick was the own darn fault" of the unvaccinated.

But health workers at hospitals in parts of Colorado that have been overwhelmed by coronavirus patients in recent weeks say they're bracing for even worse.