With omicron now dominant, depleted U.S. hospitals struggle to prepare for the worst

America's hospitals are in bad shape right now — overwhelmed and understaffed — just as the omicron variant of the coronavirus takes hold across the country and Americans begin traveling and socializing for the holidays.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new figures late Monday showing that the omicron variant now accounts for 73.2% of new coronavirus cases in the U.S.

That's a sixfold increase from the previous week, when the CDC estimated 12.6% of cases were caused by omicron.

This news comes at a time when many US. hospitals...