Watch live as Dr. Anthony Fauci, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky testify on response to omicron COVID variant

A few of the Biden administration’s top public health officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director, will testify on Capitol Hill on Tuesday and face questions from lawmakers about the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 omicron variant.

The Senate Health Committee hearing, starting at 10 a.m., comes as the U.S. is in the middle of an unprecedented surge in cases. The nation now averages more than half a million new cases daily and hospitalizations have jumped by about 50% over the last two weeks, according to The New York Times.

In Massachusetts, health officials report an average of more than 20,000 new cases per day.

Vaccines and boosters have kept severe cases and deaths down compared to last year.

But the CDC has been under fire for recent shifts in its guidance — moving from a recommendation of 10 days of isolation to five after contracting COVID-19, but with no requirement for a negative test to end the isolation period.

The Biden administration has also faced sharp criticism from state governments and Americans eager to get their hands on rapid at-home tests during the recent spike. President Joe Biden has pledged several times to make tests more readily available, but tests are often hard to come by.

The crunch in at-home test stems from a variety of factors, including tight regulations on test accuracy and what manufacturers described to ProPublica in November as a frustrating, bureaucratic process to get Food and Drug Administration approval.

Tuesday’s hearing can be streamed live via the PBS News feed or on the Senate Health Committee website.

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