Hospitals

US hospitals hit with nurse staffing crisis amid COVID The COVID-19 pandemic has created a nurse staffing crisis that is forcing many U.S. hospitals to pay top dollar to get the help they need to handle the crush of patients this summer. The problem, health leaders say, is twofold: Nurses are quitting or retiring, exhausted or demoralized by the crisis. AP NEWS

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a nurse staffing crisis that is forcing many U.S. hospitals to pay top dollar to get the help they need to handle the crush of patients this summer.

Hurricane Ida victims could swamp Louisiana's already Covid-stretched hospitals (nbcnews.com)

Louisiana’s battered hospitals were bracing for another challenge Monday in the wake of Hurricane Ida — an influx of new patients.

And with services already stretched to capacity by the Covid-19 crisis, the still unanswered question was where to put them.

Gov. John Bel Edwards told MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle that he is prioritizing “shoring up our hospitals so they can continue to serve all of their patients and the people who have been injured and haven't been able to get to the hospital yet because of something that happened during the storm.”  ...

ALSO SEE: Louisiana hospitals hit by storm evacuate dozens of patients --AP 

Holes in reporting of breakthrough Covid cases hamper CDC response The agency originally tried to track all infections in vaccinated people, from mild to severe. But in May it decided to focus on the most severe cases. Erin Banco POLITICO

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is using outdated and unreliable data on coronavirus breakthrough infections to help make major decisions, such as who gets booster shots, according to three officials with direct knowledge of the situation.