could forever change the battlefield. and honoring bob dole, long time senator and former presidential nominee what he told me in one of his last interviews about surviving the wounds of world war ii. thank you for your service. this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. good evening reminding we can never take our eyes off the ball when it comes to covid, the delta variant, the one we have been living with for months is the one fuelling a disturbing new rise in cases tonight, climbing now in at least 22 states. delta still accounting for more than 99% of infections but it is the newer omicron variant and its worrisome potential driving big changes and mandates tonight. the new u.s. global travel requirements taking effect today as new york city officials announce the most sweeping vaccination mandates in the country impacting virtually all private companies. tonight we go into the heart of a community under siege with the team coming to the rescue of a health
to be alive and just as fortunate to have a hospital bed at the san juan regional medical center in new mexico the icu is over 200% capacity more than half the patients in the building have covid. this is our fifth wave, and this is clearly the most severe wave we have had to endure. reporter: in need of a lifeline, this rural hospital is now getting help an hhs national disaster medical team has been deployed to assist overwhelmed staff. typically used on the front lines of natural disasters, they re now needed for a growing crisis inside hospitals. for some americans, the pandemic is becoming an afterthought, but that s not the reality on the ground. covid is still very much here. these are very sad situations that oftentimes don t have a very good ending. reporter: that is most true here in the icu where cameras have never been allowed before reporter: all of