COVID-19 Surge

A family had an important surgery for their daughter postponed due to COVID-19 surge across the county. NBC 7’s Amber Frias reports.

At Rady Children’s Hospital officials say about four surgeries are being postponed every day. At UC San Diego Health, 27 surgeries were postponed Wednesday alone. And at Scripps Health officials say they too have had to postpone surgeries due to staffing shortages.

San Diego’s Fire Chief says he has never seen his fire department this thin; more than 13% of city firefighters are now in isolation because of COVID-19, triggering what are known as “brownouts” at fire stations citywide.

Many hospitals across the country are struggling to cope with burnout among doctors, nurses and other workers.

The new omicron coronavirus mutant speeding around the world may bring another wave of chaos, as it threatens to further stretch hospital workers already struggling with a surge of delta cases and upend holiday plans for the second year in a row.