Europe’s health care systems are reportedly feeling the strain of the fast-spreading and highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19, which has led to chronic staff shortages in hospitals amid rising case numbers. Despite early studies indicating a lower risk of severe disease or hospitalization from Omicron compared to the previously-dominant Delta variant, nations across Europe are said to be struggling under the weight of staff shortages, driven by a surge in infections which has seen key staff members sick or forced to self-isolate. As of Jan. 9, UK government data shows that there have been 141,472 daily new cases of COVID-19 in England, while 1,217,097 people have tested positive for the virus within the last seven days. Last week, Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced it would begin deploying two hundred Armed Forces personnel to support NHS hospitals in London amid record case numbers and staff shortages. The MoD said it will provide 40 …