Summarize this article The number of patients hospitalized with Covid-19 across the US is the highest it's ever been, pushing officials to enact emergency procedures amid an ongoing case surge fueled...

Summarize this article The number of patients hospitalized with Covid-19 across the US is the highest it's ever been, pushing officials to enact emergency procedures amid an ongoing case surge fueled by the highly contagious Omicron variant. More than 151,000 Americans were in the hospital with Covid-19 nationwide on Wednesday, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services. The agency's data on Covid-19 hospitalizations include both patients who are hospitalized because of Covid-19 complications and patients who may have been admitted for something else but test positive for Covid-19. This has been true throughout the pandemic, though the share of patients who fall into each category may have changed over time. While experts say Omicron appears to cause less severe disease than the Delta variant -- especially in people who are vaccinated and boosted -- its high transmissibility has sent infection numbers shooting up nationwide, followed by hospitalizations. The US averaged more than 747,260 new Covid-19 cases daily over the last week, according to Johns Hopkins University data. That's about three times last winter's peak average (251,987 on January 11, 2021), and about 4.5 times the peak from the Delta-driven surge (166,347 on September 1), according to JHU. "The sudden and steep rise in cases due to Omicron is resulting in unprecedented daily case counts, sickness, absenteeism, and strains on our health care system," Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a Wednesday briefing. "The risk of hospitalization remains low, especially among people who are up to date on their COVID vaccines. However, the staggering rise in cases ... has led to a high number of total hospitalizations," she added.