An Associated Press and Side Effects Public Media data analysis shows one in six visits to the emergency department in 2022 that resulted in hospital admission had a wait of four or more hours.

(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)A fast-rising rising tide of new coronavirus cases is flooding emergency rooms in parts of the United States, with some patients moved into hallways and nurses working extra shifts to keep up with the surge. Ive never seen anything like this COVID surge, said Haddock, who has worked in emergency rooms since 2007. It's difficult to get a complete picture of how U.S. emergency rooms are faring. Dr. Robert Hancock, who works at multiple hospitals in Texas and Oklahoma and serves as president of the Texas College of Emergency Physicians, said some Texas emergency rooms are facing backups of patients awaiting ICU beds. Emergency rooms doctors and nurses were caught off guard by the relentless stream of severely sick patients during shifts that often lasted 12 hours, said Dr. Bernard P. Chang of New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center.

Mask-making community growsAll over the Houston area, people are working together to make homemade cloth masks for those in need. Even the youngest members of the mask making community are working hard to help others. Kids from sewing classes at The Creativity Shell are making cloth masks. But, if you are not wearing your mask the wrong way, you could be doing more harm than good. Also, you can use a bandana or scarf as a face covering if you don’t have a cloth mask.