Biden to address governors as Covid caseloads soar
CNN
President Joe Biden will confer with the nation's governors on Monday as a wave of Covid-19, driven by the heavily transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus, crashes across the country and drives caseloads to record levels in areas of the Northeast.
It is Biden's first time joining the weekly call convened between his Covid team and state leaders, and comes a week after he laid out an enhanced strategy for combating the new surge focused heavily on accelerating testing and vaccinations.
The new steps, which included ordering 500 million at-home rapid tests that Americans can obtain for free, came too late to avoid disruptions to winter holiday plans. Thousands of flights were canceled as airline staff tested positive. Many Americans downsized their plans amid the viral spread. Biden's new tests, and the website where Americans can order them, won't be in place until next month, the White House has said.