Hospitals face blood shortage amid omicron surge

The U.S. medical system is grappling with a national blood shortage as the omicron surge hampers its ability to collect blood from donors at workplaces and college campuses. The American Red Cross, which provides 40 percent of the nation's blood, says supplies have reached dangerously low levels. Blood collection agencies and hospital officials say it's facing the worst shortage in more than a decade since the start of the pandemic. The Red Cross and other agencies rely heavily on blood drives hosted by employers and colleges, but many collection events were canceled. Blood donations have picked up since the Red Cross declared a "national blood crisis" in mid-January, but there are still critical shortages that will take months to address.