Respiratory therapist Frans Oudenaar, left, and registered nurse Bryan Hofilena cover a body of a COVID-19 patient with a sheet at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021. Many hospitals across the country are struggling to cope with burnout among doctors, nurses and other workers. Already buffeted by a crush of patients from the ongoing surge of the coronavirus’s delta variant, they’re now bracing for the fallout of another highly transmissible mutation. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)