Canadian hospitals strain as Omicron hits health workers

Nurses, doctors, and a respiratory therapist intubate a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patient as the Omicron coronavirus variant continues to put pressure on Humber River Hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada January 20, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio

TORONTO/MONTREAL (Reuters) - After a year as an emergency department nurse at a busy Toronto hospital in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, Aimee Earhart called it quits last week. She is moving to Florida for a short contract before getting work as a travel nurse for what she hopes will be double the salary.

"We're just burnt out all the time," Earhart said. She says she will miss her colleagues, and might have stayed if working conditions were better.