COVID updates: New Zealand imposes restrictions amid omicron outbreak

All intensive care units are full in Oklahoma City, where 117 patients are in emergency rooms waiting for an open bed, Dr. Julie Watson, chief medical Officer of INTEGRIS Health, said Tuesday.

Some patients have been waiting more than 24 hours for an available ICU bed, Watson said.

"Our emergency departments are overflowing. Our health care professionals are exhausted. We've been working nearly nonstop for over two years now," Watson said at a news conference. "Omicron cases are rising faster than previous variants and we are struggling to keep up."

"We aren't able to care for patients the way we normally do," she continued. "It feels, and sometimes even looks, like a war zone. … We have to care for patients in hallways, sometimes closets."

Oklahoma City hospitals are also experiencing staffing shortages and supply chain shortages.

"Some days we don't have syringes, or saline or chest tube setups," she said.

-ABC News' Katherine Carroll

Kansas will end its contact tracing program at the end January due to an overwhelming number of COVID-19 cases and a "diminished" willingness of people to take part, the state health department announced Tuesday.

"As we enter the third year of this pandemic, public health has to begin to adjust the level of response to help alleviate the strain on the Public Health system," Janet Stanek, acting secretary of the state's Department of Health and Environment, said in a statement. "The pandemic is far from over, but this step is a move toward managing COVID-19 as an endemic disease. The responsibility of protecting yourself and others belongs to all of us." 

-ABC News' Will McDuffie

ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith is opening up about his intense COVID-19 battle.

After Smith tested positive in December, he said he had a 103 degree fever every night.

"Woke up with chills and a pool of sweat. Headaches were massive. Coughing profusely," Smith said, according to The New York Post.

Smith said he was admitted to the hospital over New Year's with pneumonia in both lungs.

“They told me, had I not been vaccinated, I wouldn’t be here. That’s how bad it was," he said.

Smith is now back to work, but he said, "two-and-a-half, three weeks ago, I didn’t know if I was gonna make it.”

-ABC News' Will Gretsky

Disney is the parent company of ABC News and ESPN.

New York state, hit hard by the omicron surge over the holidays, is seeing COVID-19 cases down 75% from early January, state officials said.

New York reported 22,312 new cases Tuesday, according to state data. On Jan. 7, New York state recorded 90,132 daily cases.

The seven-day average of new cases is down 38.9% from the previous week and the seven-day average of hospital admissions dropped 13.6% from the previous week, according to state data.

"We hope to close the books on this winter surge soon," Gov. Kathy Hochul said Tuesday.

-ABC News' Will Gretsky