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The top health leaders in the U.S. will testify before the Senate on Tuesday about the federal response to the omicron Covid variant, as new infections and hospitalizations reach pandemic highs.

The Senate health committee will hear testimony from White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, and acting Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock.
Dawn O’Connell, assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the Department of Health and Human Services, is also testifying.

The hearing comes as the CDC faces criticism for its public messaging on the pandemic, particularly its quarantine guidance. The CDC cut the isolation period to five days for people who have Covid, but it did not recommend people get tested before leaving isolation.

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The Biden administration has also been criticized for nationwide testing shortage during the busy holiday travel season as new infections were surging across the country.
Fauci will likely face questions about how vaccines are holding up against the highly mutated omicron variant. Omicron is able to evade some the protection provide by the vaccines. The variant is more contagious than past strains and it appears less severe, though researchers are still collecting data.

The FDA recently cut the waiting period for Pfizer and Moderna booster shots to five months, in an effort to get more third shots in people’s arms in order to build up protection in communities across the U.S. as omicron spread.
The U.S. is reporting a seven-day average more than 750,000 new infections daily, according to a CNBC analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University. That’s a 53% increase over the prior week and a pandemic record.

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Cruise ships have seen a 30-fold increase in positive Covid-19 cases in the past two weeks, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a Senate hearing Tuesday.
The stark increase in cases comes after the agency warned against cruise ship travel, regardless of passengers’ vaccination status.
Ships operating in U.S. waters reported about 5,000 Covid cases from Dec. 15 through Dec. 29. Walensky didn’t provide updated figures on Tuesday.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention testifies during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing to examine the federal response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and new emerging variants at Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S. January 11, 2022.
Shawn Thew | Reuters

Cruise ships have seen a 30-fold increase in Covid-19 cases over two weeks due to the highly contagious omicron variant, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a Senate hearing Tuesday.
The stark increase in cases comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned against cruise ship travel, regardless of passengers’ vaccination status.

In the first two weeks of December, 162 cases were reported aboard vessels. But as cases continued to mount across the globe, cruise lines disclosed more outbreaks. Ships operating in U.S. waters reported about 5,000 Covid cases to the CDC from Dec. 15 through Dec. 29.

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Walensky didn’t provide updated figures on cases aboard cruise ships during Tuesday’s hearing.
So far, certain ships have been operating under the CDC’s conditional sailing order, which sets safety procedures like mandated testing for foreign-operated cruise ships operating in American waters. That order has been in place with slight modifications since October 2020.
Walensky said she doesn’t believe the order, which is due to end on Jan. 15, will be renewed. Instead, the agency expects to shift to a voluntary program, working alongside cruise lines.
The CDC director said she hopes “the cruise ship industries will continue to understand that this is a really safe practice for those industries.”
“What I can’t predict is what the summer will bring,” she added.

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Walgreens Boots Alliance has begun a strategic review of its Boots business.
The U.K.-based drugstore chain has more than 2,200 stores and roughly 51,000 employees, according to the company’s website.
“While the process is at an exploratory stage, we do expect to move quickly,” said Walgreens Boots Alliance CEO Roz Brewer at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference.

FILE – In an Oct. 5, 2005 file photo people walk by a Boots pharmacy in central London. Drugstore chain Walgreen Co. says it will spend $6.7 billion to buy a stake in health and beauty retailer Alliance Boots. (AP Photo/Sergio Dionisio)
Sergio Dionisio

Walgreens Boots Alliance CEO Roz Brewer said Tuesday that the retailer has begun a strategic review of its Boots business.
In a virtual presentation at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, Brewer confirmed that the company is considering how to proceed with the U.K.-based drugstore chain. She did not say whether that would be a sale and, if so, who might be the buyer.

“While the process is at an exploratory stage, we do expect to move quickly,” she said.
Walgreens has been reportedly considering a sale, as it ramps up its focus on health care and competes with U.S. rival CVS Health. Earlier Tuesday, British news outlet Sky News reported that private equity firms Bain Capital and CVC Capital Partners were putting together a bid for Boots. It cited unnamed sources and Walgreens did not comment on the report.
Boots has more than 2,200 stores and roughly 51,000 employees, according to the company’s website. It also has hundreds of optical practices and hearing care locations. Along with selling drugstore items, it is known for beauty brands, including its own labels like No7 and Soap & Glory, which have been picked up by major retailers like Ulta Beauty and Walmart.
Shares of Walgreens closed at $54.33 on Tuesday, up 1.12% and are up about 14% over the past 12 months.

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U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci called out Sen. Rand Paul during a congressional hearing Tuesday.
He accused the lawmaker of helping incite death threats against him for his Covid-19 pandemic response.
It’s the latest in a long-standing feud between the two government officials during hearings.

U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci called out Republican Sen. Rand Paul during a congressional hearing Tuesday, accusing the lawmaker of spreading bad information and inciting death threats against him over Fauci’s work on the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a heated question-and-answer session before the Senate health committee, Fauci said Paul’s false accusations blaming the White House chief medical advisor for millions of deaths have led to a constant stream of harassment.

“What happens when he gets out and accuses me of things that are completely untrue is that all of a sudden that kindles the crazies out there and I have threats upon my life, harassment of my family and my children with obscene phone calls, because people are lying about me,” Fauci told the panel.

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Fauci, holding some literature published by Paul’s office calling for the scientist’s firing, said a California man was arrested in Iowa on Dec. 21 driving from Sacramento to Washington, D.C., with the intent of killing several government officials, including Fauci.
“The police asked him where he was going and he was going to Washington, D.C., to kill Dr. Fauci,” he said. “They found in his car, an AR-15 and multiple magazines of ammunition because he thinks that maybe I’m killing people.”
It’s the latest in a long-standing feud between the two government officials. The pair have sparred over the country’s pandemic response since at least September 2020, when Fauci called out Paul for misconstruing the truth.

U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) arrives for a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing to examine the federal response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and new emerging variants at Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S. January 11, 2022.
Greg Nash | Reuters

Paul and Fauci have argued over masks, risk of reinfection, the state of the pandemic and the origin of the coronavirus.

“In usual fashion, senator, you are distorting everything about me,” Fauci said Tuesday. “This happens all the time, you personally attack me, with absolutely not a shred of evidence about anything you say.”
Later in the hearing Paul responded to Fauci, saying it was improper to blame him for the threats.
“It’s disappointing for you to suggest that people who dare to question you are responsible somehow for violent threats,” Paul said.
Fauci was testifying alongside CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock and and Dawn O’Connell, assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the Department of Health and Human Services. The hearing was examining the government’s work against the highly contagious omicron variant.

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Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch did not wear a mask for a hearing, even as all the other justices in attendance did so.
Two justices, Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer, appeared remotely due to apparent concerns about Covid-19 infection.
Gorsuch has failed to wear a mask on the bench during oral arguments since Friday, while the other justices who appeared did so in apparent recognition of the spread of the omicron variant.

Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch poses during a group photo of the Justices at the Supreme Court in Washington, April 23, 2021.
Erin Schaff | Pool | Reuters

One of these justices is not like the others.
Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch did not wear a mask for a hearing Tuesday, even as all the other justices in attendance did so, while two colleagues appeared remotely due to apparent concerns about Covid-19 infection.

Gorsuch has failed to wear a mask on the bench during oral arguments since Friday, while the other justices who appeared did so in apparent recognition of the spread of the omicron variant.
That spread has coincided with a sharp increase in the number of Washington, D.C., residents and other Americans infected with Covid and hospitalized in recent weeks. On Tuesday, the United States broke its year-old record, with nearly 146,000 people in a hospital due to Covid infection.

Gorsuch and all other eight justices have been vaccinated and received boosters for Covid.
Last week, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who normally sits next to Gorsuch during hearings, and who until recently had been the sole justice to wear a mask, began participating in arguments remotely through an audio connection to her chambers last Friday. Sotomayor is diabetic, putting her more at risk at contracting Covid.
On Tuesday, Justice Stephen Breyer also began appearing remotely. Breyer, who at 83 years old is the high court’s oldest member, normally sits on the other side of Sotomayor when court is in session.

A court spokeswoman later Tuesday told NBC News in a statement that, “As part of routine testing, Justice Breyer took a COVID-19 rapid test this morning prior to oral argument and the result was positive. That test has now been determined to be a false positive. A second rapid test was negative.”
“Subsequently, Justice Breyer received a negative test result from a PCR administered this morning,” the spokesman said. “The results of a PCR test taken by the Justice yesterday were also negative. Out of an abundance of caution, Justice Breyer participated in oral arguments today remotely from his chambers. Justice Breyer has been fully vaccinated, including a booster shot.”
Breyer and seven other justices, unlike Gorsuch, wore masks last Friday when they heard hours of oral arguments in cases involving challenges to the Biden administration’s mandates for Covid vaccinations for workers at large employers and health-care providers. Two lawyers who participated in those arguments did so remotely because they had contracted Covid.

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In contrast to Gorsuch, reporters and lawyers who attend high court hearings must wear at least N95 masks, not less protective cloth masks.
The Washington Post deputy editorial page editor Ruth Marcus criticized Gorsuch in a column Friday, writing that “Like his colleagues, he had a choice about whether to wear a mask.”
“Unlike them, he chose poorly,” Marcus wrote.
During Tuesday’s session, the other six justices besides Gorsuch, including Chief Justice John Roberts, kept their masks on, only removing them at times to sip water or sometimes while asking questions.
The Supreme Court’s media affairs office did not immediately respond to a query from CNBC about Gorsuch.
The high court only in October began hearing arguments in person after more than a yearlong span in which the justices conducted proceedings over the phone because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Supreme Court building remains closed to the public.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser in late December reinstated a mandate requiring that masks be worn in public indoor spaces, because of the rise locally in Covid cases.
But the federal government sets its own rules for federal buildings, and the Supreme Court, as a separate branch of the government, determines its own guidelines.
On Dec. 1, when the omicron variant first was detected in the United States, there were 131 newly reported cases of Covid in Washington, with 97 people hospitalized with the virus. On Monday, there were 2,365 new cases of Covid reported in the district, with 901 people hospitalized.
– Additional reporting by CNBC’s Sevanny Campos

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The number of patients with Covid-19 in U.S. hospitals surpassed last winter’s peak over the weekend and the U.S. reported a single-day record of 1.5 million Covid cases on Monday.
A larger share of patients appear to be entering hospitals for something other than Covid and testing positive once they’re in a facility.
Even if the omicron variant causes less severe disease, U.S. hospitals can still be strained due to the high volume of patients and staffing shortages.

Medical staff treat coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patient Frank Clark in his room on an isolated medical unit floor at Western Reserve Hospital in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, U.S., January 5, 2022.
Shannon Stapleton | Reuters

The number of patients with Covid-19 in U.S. hospitals surpassed last winter’s peak over the weekend and the country reported another single-day record of nearly 1.5 million new cases on Monday, two grim milestones as the nation’s health system grapples with the extremely contagious omicron variant. 
There were 144,441 Americans hospitalized with the virus as of Sunday, above the prior high mark of 142,315 patients recorded about a year ago on Jan. 14, according to data tracked by the Department of Health and Human Services, and the count has climbed to 147,000 as of Tuesday.

The country also reported roughly 1.5 million new cases on Monday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, pushing the seven-day average to 754,000 new cases per day.
To be sure, a large portion of Covid hospitalizations appear to stem from people admitted for other reasons who test positive for the virus once they’re in a facility. And while hospitalizations are the highest on record, HHS didn’t start collecting the data until August 2020 so it doesn’t capture the first early surge of cases that spring.

The daily tally of confirmed infections is also likely artificially high since many states report their weekend Covid testing data on Mondays.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Monday that about half of the city’s hospitalizations are people hospitalized with Covid as opposed to for Covid, for example, and a Monday press release from the New York state Department of Health reported 42% of the state’s hospitalized patients were admitted for something other than Covid. National data isn’t available since most states don’t track that level of detail in their cases.
The number of cases are also likely being undercounted due to the availability of at-home test kits for which results are typically not reported to state or federal agencies.

White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said last week that a growing body of evidence indicates the Covid omicron variant is less severe than the delta strain. More data is needed to confirm that, he said, cautioning that the sheer volume of infections and hospitalized people could still strain hospital systems. 
“A certain proportion of a large volume of cases, no matter what, are going to be severe,” Fauci said. “So don’t take this as a signal that we can pull back from the recommendations.”
Infections are on the rise in nearly every part of the country and average daily case counts are at record highs in 28 states as of Monday. Fifteen states and the District of Columbia are reporting a record level of current hospitalizations, according to a CNBC analysis of HHS data that dates back to the summer of 2020.
“There is a lot of infection around the country right now, and, at the end of this, probably 30% to 40% of the U.S. population will have been infected by omicron,” former FDA commissioner, Pfizer board member and CNBC contributor Scott Gottlieb, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Tuesday.

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The stress on the health system is compounded by the fact that many hospitals are short-staffed due to labor shortages or health-care workers being forced to quarantine after getting Covid themselves.
“The challenge, and this existed going into this surge as well, is staffing,” Louisiana State Health Officer Dr. Joseph Kanter said on the program “Full Court Press with Greta Van Susteren” on Sunday. 
“It’s so hard to retain staff for good reasons. It’s so hard to recruit new staff,” he added. “That’s the biggest limiting factor for our hospitals. It’s not physical beds, it’s not ventilators, it’s not PPE right now. It’s just keeping enough qualified staff on board.”
Illnesses among employees are impacting industries beyond health care. U.S. airlines canceled thousands of flights over the holidays through early this year due to Covid infections among crews and a series of winter storms. United Airlines is trimming its schedule to address a surge in sick calls among employees, CEO Scott Kirby told employees.
United has about 3,000 workers who are currently positive for Covid, Kirby said in a staff memo published Monday, some 4% of its U.S. workforce.
U.S. health officials have warned that the most significant risk from Covid remains for those who are not vaccinated. Roughly 63% of Americans are fully immunized, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows, and 36% of those fully vaccinated have received a booster dose. 
“It is a very wily virus,” Fauci told lawmakers at a hearing Tuesday. “It has fooled everybody all the time — from the time it first came in to delta to now omicron — it’s very unpredictable and we’re doing the best we possibly can.”
The U.S. is reporting a seven-day average of about 1,650 Covid deaths per day, according to Johns Hopkins, which is on the rise but roughly half of the peak levels seen at this time last year, before vaccines were widely available.
Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and is a member of the boards of Pfizer, genetic testing start-up Tempus, health-care tech company Aetion and biotech company Illumina. He also serves as co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings′ and Royal Caribbean’s “Healthy Sail Panel.”
 — CNBC’s Jessica Bursztynsky, Spencer Kimball and Leslie Josephs contributed to this article.

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The FAA said Tuesday that it briefly paused departures at some West Coast airports Monday evening, a precaution that occurred near the same time as a North Korean ballistic missile launch.It’s unclear if the two events were connected.
Monday’s missile test was the second known North Korean launch in a week.

A United Airlines Holdings Inc. Boeing 777-200 aircraft on the tarmac at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

WASHINGTON – The Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday that it briefly paused departures at some West Coast airports Monday evening, a precaution that occurred near the same time as a North Korean ballistic missile launch.
It’s unclear if the two events were connected.

The FAA said on Tuesday it “regularly takes precautionary measures. We are reviewing the process around this ground stop as we do after all such events.”
A U.S. official told Reuters the FAA paused operations for less than 15 minutes “due to initial reports of events in the Indo-Pacific region,” without directly tying it to the missile launch.
In a statement Monday evening, the U.S. military’s Indo-Pacific Command, the geographic combatant command responsible for the region, confirmed North Korea’s ballistic missile launch.
“We are aware of the ballistic missile launch and are consulting closely with our allies and partners. While we have assessed that this event does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies, the missile launch highlights the destabilizing impact of the DPRK’s illicit weapons program,” the command wrote, referencing the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

People walk past a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a railway station in Seoul on January 11, 2022, after North Korea fired a “suspected ballistic missile” into the sea, South Korea’s military said, less than a week after Pyongyang reported testing a hypersonic missile.
Anthony Wallace | AFP | Getty Images

Monday’s missile test, the second known North Korean launch in a week, originated from the northern province of Jagang and traveled some 430 miles before plunging into the East Sea, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Last week, Pyongyang said it successfully conducted a test of a sophisticated hypersonic missile.
Meanwhile, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Monday that the U.S. was still assessing whether that test was of a hypersonic missile with a maneuverable warhead.
Under U.N. Security Council resolutions all ballistic missile tests by North Korea are banned.
The missile tests, which follow a series of weapons tests in 2021, underscore third-generation North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s ambition to expand military capabilities amid stalled nuclear talks with the United States.
Under his rule, the reclusive state has conducted its most powerful nuclear test, launched its first-ever intercontinental ballistic missile and threatened to send missiles into the waters near the U.S. territory of Guam.

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France is about to implement a strict Covid passport system whereby citizens will need to be vaccinated before they can enter restaurant or indoor events, rather than being either vaccinated or registering a negative test.
President Emmanuel Macron sparked controversy last week after saying he would make life difficult for those citizens who refuse a Covid-19 vaccine.
More than 50% of Europe’s population will be infected with the omicron Covid-19 variant over the next two months, according to forecasts shared by a top World Health Organization official.

Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, removes his face mask during a news conference.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

France saw its Covid-19 infection rate hit a new record on Tuesday as the new highly-contagious omicron variant sweeps across the European continent.
The figure of 368,149 in the last 24 hours trumps a previous record of 332,252 set on Jan. 5.

Its seven-day moving average of cases was nearly 270,000 on Monday, according to Our World in Data, significantly above tallies in neighboring nations like the U.K.
France is about to implement a strict Covid passport system whereby citizens will need to be vaccinated before they can enter restaurant or indoor events, rather than being either vaccinated or registering a negative test.
President Emmanuel Macron sparked controversy last week after saying he would make life difficult for those citizens who refuse a Covid-19 vaccine.
“I am not for bothering the French. I rant all day at the administration when it blocks them. Well, there, the unvaccinated, I really want to hassle them. And so, we will continue to do it, until the end,” the French leader said in an interview with Le Parisien.
His comments coincided with parliamentary discussions over the Covid passes. Macron used the French word “emmerder” in his interview with Le Parisien, which can be roughly translated as “hassle” or “annoy,” or would be close to the phrase “piss off.”

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More than 50% of Europe’s population will be infected with the omicron Covid-19 variant over the next two months, according to forecasts shared by a top World Health Organization official.
Dr. Hans Kluge, the WHO’s regional director for Europe, cited data from the Seattle-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at a news briefing Tuesday, saying a new “West to East tidal wave” of omicron infections was sweeping across the region, on top of the previous delta variant which is still prevalent.
“It [omicron] is quickly becoming the dominant virus in Western Europe and is now spreading into the Balkans,” Kluge said. He added that the region saw more than 7 million infections in the first week of 2022, more than doubling over a two-week period.

—CNBC’s Silvia Amaro contributed to this article.

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