Even though the omicron variant is not causing a higher number of severe infections like previous strains, the sheer number of new cases caused by the variant is overwhelming medical centers.
Now, governors are deploying the National Guard members to help hospitals and other medical centers that have been severely understaffed due to employees getting infected from the new variant and the influx in cases.
The Pennsylvania National Guard activated a dual-status commander, Brig. Gen. James McCormack, on Dec. 31 to help with the federal COVID-19 response teams working in medical centers throughout the state, the Nation Guard reported.
Hospitals aren't the only places that have had issues with staffing. Testing sites, long-term-care facilities, and nursing homes have all struggled.
Approximately 110 Pennsylvania National Guard service members were activated to help with staff shortages in long-term care facilities, according to the Guard.
In Massachusetts, the National Guard has been deployed to UMass Memorial Medical center to help the hospital struggling to keep its head above water.
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The CEO of the hospital, emergency room physician Dr. Eric Dickson, described the situation as a "perfect storm for a nightmare" in the emergency department.
UMass Memorial is the main hospital in central Massachusetts and is already over capacity at 115%, with numbers expected to rise in the coming weeks, CNN reported.
Infectious disease specialist Dr. Michael Osterholm talked about this with News Talk 830 WCCO's Vineeta Sawkar when he said that the omicron variant will hit like a "viral blizzard."
"It's not just, 'Are tests available?'" Osterholm said. "But, 'Are you going to have people that can run the testing center?' 'Are you going to have people who work in the laboratories that do the tests?'"
In Minnesota, the National Guard has been helping with not only long-term care facilities, but they have also been deployed to help in new community testing centers that otherwise would struggle to stay open.
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Minnesota Governor Tim Walz shared the impact that the National Guard is having on helping medical centers, sharing he is grateful for the work they have done throughout the pandemic and their commitment to helping their communities.
"People tell me time and time again… 'these people are incredible' and [they're] naming soldiers by name," Walz said of National Guard members working long-term care facilities.
In Louisiana, Governor John Bel Edwards has also been conducting missions around the state, with almost 870 soldiers and airmen administering vaccines at 28 different sites and COVID tests at 31 locations, the National Guard reported.
Ten states have now deployed National Guard medical teams, according to Army Northern Command.
That accounts for almost 13,000 Guard members helping at vaccine sites, testing centers, care facilities, and hospitals nationwide, Maj. Gen. Jill Faris, the director of the Office of the Joint Surgeon General at the National Guard Bureau, reported.
"We've done just about anything affiliated and associated with Covid support. We've seen it happen in all of our states and territories," Faris said.
