As Omicron surges, a French hospital creaks under staff shortages

FILE PHOTO: People wearing protective face masks walk in the Tuileries Gardens in Paris amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in France, January 5, 2022. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

PARIS (Reuters) - Emergency ward doctor Abigael Debit is increasingly spending her time finding beds for COVID-19 patients, either in her own public-private clinic outside Paris or in nearby hospitals, as the contagious Omicron variant rips through France.

Scientific data shows a lower risk of severe disease from Omicron compared to the Delta variant, but the sheer number of infections means that France's healthcare system is once again under strain, like elsewhere in Europe.