The largest manufacturers of rapid, at-home COVID-19 tests have created a new lobbying group that is urging Medicare to pay for their tests, according to federal lobbying disclosures.
Why it matters: Rapid tests have become increasingly important for people to monitor infections as the Omicron variant takes hold, but the costs and supply of tests have been a sticking point for many people.
Students and staff in the Washington, D.C., public school system will need to test negative for COVID-19 to return to the classrooms from winter break next Wednesday.
Why it matters: The nation's capital has one of the highest rates of coronavirus spread, and the new measure announced Wednesday aims to keep classrooms open through a massive testing drive.
Top health officials in the Biden administration are pushing back against criticism of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's move to cut the recommended isolation time for people who test positive for COVID-19 from 10 days to five days if they're asymptomatic.
Driving the news: "This is one of those situations ... that we often say, you don't want the perfect to be the enemy of the good," NIAID director Anthony Fauci told MSNBC's Chris Hayes on Tuesday.
A federal court on Tuesday denied the state of Oklahoma's lawsuit attempting to block enforcement of the Pentagon's vaccine mandate for federal employees.
Driving the news: District Judge Stephen Friot said Oklahoma's attempt was "without merit," ultimately finding that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin — and the Biden administration — has the constitutional authority to enforce a vaccination mandate.
Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) was hailed Tuesday for his "honesty" by former House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) — who praised his old political rival for being "a fighter until the end."
The big picture: Boehner's tribute to his friend was one of many from past and present officeholders of both parties, including President Biden and former President Obama, following Reid's death on Tuesday at age 82.
Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) died at 82 Tuesday "following a courageous, four-year battle with pancreatic cancer," his wife, Landra Reid, announced.
The big picture: The influential politician was Senate majority leader from 2007 to 2015, and served in Congress for more than three decades. Both President Biden and former President Obama said Reid was a "great" Senate leader.
Jerome Adams, the U.S. surgeon general under former President Trump, criticized the CDC on Tuesday for shortening the recommended isolation time for people who test positive for COVID-19 to five days if they're asymptomatic.
Details: Adams also expressed concern in a Twitter post and in an interview Tuesday about the CDC's updated guidance on face masks, which advises that after the recommended isolation period, people should wear masks for at least five days to "minimize the risk of infecting others."
President Joe Biden praised former Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who died on Tuesday at age 82, for being one of the "all-time great Senate Majority Leaders."
What he's saying: Biden noted in a statement that "for Harry, it wasn't about power for power’s sake. It was about the power to do right for the people."
Former President Barack Obama said following the death of former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Tuesday that he wouldn't be president were it not for the Nevada senator's "encouragement and support."
