Will Stone

After recovering from the initial illness, some COVID-19 patients suffer serious complications such as heart attacks and strokes. A study has quantified the risks up to a year later.

The omicron surge precipitated a critical blood shortage — the worst in over a decade. It is threatening access to treatments for patients with cancer and other medical conditions.

When cancer survivor Katie Ripley got pneumonia, the 25-bed hospital in her small town didn't have the specialized care she needed. But with omicron surging, there was no ICU bed to transfer her to.

The omicron surge has clogged up the health care system, from the ICU to the ER. The consequences are huge for smaller hospitals and, in some cases, it has led to irreparable harm.

More than 900,000 people in the U.S. have now died from COVID-19, but that figure doesn't capture the full impact of the disease.

Slammed by COVID-19, many U.S. hospitals have put off essential procedures. Delays are leading to consequences like heart attacks and sending people to emergency rooms to get care.

The omicron surge is derailing medical care for all kinds of patients. While it's hard to quantify, doctors say many patients are suffering because of canceled surgeries and clogged hospitals.

People who get infected with omicron are less likely to go to the hospital, go on a ventilator or die. But with the current huge volume of patients, hospitals are still struggling to treat them all.

This latest coronavirus surge has set back a return to "normal." COVID is never going away -– and that has implications for hospitals, schools and public health officials.

Omicron has pushed U.S. hospitalizations to record levels, but what does an omicron illness actually look like? And who is getting very sick? Doctors around the country describe what they are seeing.

A Seattle hospital confronts the omicron surge. While COVID-19 patients aren't as sick compared to earlier waves, there is a record number of patients overall, and not enough staff to care for them.

Omicron may cause milder disease, but the sheer number of patients makes this wave far worse for the health care system. With packed emergency rooms, patients can wait days to get moved to a bed.

In the U.S., more people are hospitalized for COVID-19 than at any other point in the pandemic. The omicron variant has slammed ERs, but doctors say this surge feels different than earlier ones.

There are more patients and, in some places, not enough health care workers to go around. Research shows the crowding will impact care and increase mortality for all patients.

Some hospitals report less strain as omicron seems to cause less severe illness. But they're still overcrowded with patients. Research shows death rates rise significantly when hospitals are full.

Researchers are looking at data from U.S. cases to determine if the variant causes milder disease. Even if the answer is yes, they say, rates of hospitalization could be high during the surge.

Most people know the telltale signs of COVID-19. But given omicron's many mutations, are the common symptoms still the same? Doctors are noticing at least some differences with the new variant.

Scientists are trying to figure out why the omicron variant is spreading so much faster than delta did. Early research provides a few possible reasons.

The burning questions: What makes this newly identified variant so transmissible?. And what does it mean for preventing spread?

President Biden has rolled out a plan to help hospitals deal with omicron and the expected surge of patients. Experts say the support is welcome, but still doesn't go far enough.