again an epicenter of the pandemic and statewide cases are up more than 80% since monday. >> we must learn to live with covid, adjust and pivot at the right times. and we're doing that in new york. i'm extremely optimistic on how the city is going to respond. >> clearly new york and washington, d.c., are ahead of the curve, but not by much. in the next three to four weeks we'll expect everyone hit with this. >> reporter: the risk of new year's eve celebrations becoming coast to coast spreaders is for health experts terrifying. >> i'm worried we'll be in for a tidal wave of cases in the coming weeks. >> reporter: hospitals are already flooded with patients, even as nurses and doctors fall ill, prompting desperate measures. in new hampshire, yet another federal medical team, the department of defense deploying around the country for months will arrive next week to help with the overload. in oklahoma, the national guard is barring unvaccinated members from joining in drills.