"I've never seen anything like it since I've been a nurse."
Jodi Parsons is an ICU charge nurse at Western Reserve Hospital in Ohio:
"When we had our first surge, when the pandemic first started, it was nothing like it is today. I would say we're surging more today in this hospital than we were when it all started a year ago, or two years ago...We noticed a lot of after the holidays gatherings. Like after Thanksgiving, we really imploded. We were full. We had 12 beds full at all times."
Hospitalizations have increased steadily since late December as Omicron quickly overtook Delta as the dominant coronavirus variant in the U.S. - although experts say Omicron will likely prove less deadly.
"So it takes a few days for the medication that you guys are giving me to try to bring it back up?"
COVID-19 patient Frank Clark tested positive for the virus as well as his wife:
"A few hours later my wife took the test and she tested positive. She's also a victim of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, so we're double-trouble."
The seven-day average for new cases set a record for a 10th consecutive day at 597,000, while COVID hospitalizations reached nearly 123,000 and appeared poised to top the record of over 132,000.
Officials continue to press vaccinations as the best protection against serious illness, although federal mandates requiring them have become politically contentious.
