| By Drew Broach | Deputy metro editor
DEJA VIRUS: Even though the coronavirus' omicron variant seems to be sending a smaller percentage of infected people to the hospital, it's so contagious that more people are getting it, and thus Louisiana hospitals are once again overwhelmed. They're canceling surgeries, finding bottlenecks in the emergency room and starting to mingle COVID-positive patients on non-COVID floors.
THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU: From Lake Charles to New Orleans, countless families across a storm-ravaged south Louisiana are facing similar struggles with rebuilding after getting lowballed by their insurers. Some are finding relief, however, not by turning to lawyers but to public adjusters, who conduct a separate damage assessment on behalf of policyholders and determine whether the insurance company’s estimates are accurate.
UNSAFE TO SLEEP: In Kenner, a 19-year-old and a 10-year-old were asleep in their bedroom when at least three different guns were used outside to shoot up their Lincoln Manor residence, wounding both of them. In New Orleans, a mother left her 5-year-old asleep in a vehicle at a Mid-City restaurant while she picked up takeout food, only to have thieves steal the vehicle with the child still in it.
Thanks for starting your day with us. Check the latest news all day at NOLA.com. D.B. | 
