Patients with advanced cancer and heart disease are among those who have had to wait for surgeries and other procedures as critically ill, unvaccinated COVID patients strain the medical system.
Nurses are taking to social media, describing grim hospital scenes and imploring Americans to stay safe as hospitals reach capacity limits. "We're seeing the worst of the worst," says one nurse.
One thing that has improved a lot over the course of the pandemic is treatment of seriously ill COVID-19 patients in intensive care units. Here's one man's success story.
Health officials say they're not ready to determine if the data are statistically significant yet, but there's a positive trend. They say people should still practice social distance and wear masks.
NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Dr. Jamil Madi of Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen, Texas, about how the coronavirus case increases have affected his ICU in the Rio Grande Valley.
