President Joe Biden has tapped military doctors and health care workers to provide extra hands at medical facilities experiencing staffing shortages.
As the omicron variant causes COVID-19 cases to increase in many states, the federal government has needed to implement this step after a number of health care workers throughout the U.S. have been terminated for being noncompliant with vaccine mandates.
"We’re mobilizing an additional 1,000 military doctors and nurses and medics to help staff hospitals," Biden said, according to Fox News. "FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) is deploying hundreds of ambulances and EMS crews to transport patients. We’ve already deployed emergency response teams in Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, Vermont, New Hampshire and New Mexico. We’re ready to provide more hospital beds as well."
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) declared a state of emergency due to the omicron variant in late November. The omicron variant has now been detected in every state, and COVID-19 cases have ballooned by 48%, Fox News reported.
Flu cases are also increasing in Washington, D.C., New Jersey, Kansas and Indiana, according to Fox News.
