dramatically and as susan said earlier and has shown on the data, with omicron in particular, the number of people in intensive care is even lower now than it was before omicron came along. that s important. but we can t stress enough how important it is to get vaccinated because that is the way to keep deaths low. you mention to the number of people dying. you mentioned the latest number. the numbers are varying day by day and there are some reporting differences depending on which day of the week is picked but looking at the average daily death rate, the seven day average, i think it is around 200 in england, which is a lot, lot lower thanit england, which is a lot, lot lower than it has been before. we want it to get lower. something else that i think is important to point out about the death rate, which i think susan might expand on, also with
led to this decision. we heard walensky really reiterating this is a decision that represents something of a balancing test. yes, of the need to keep america running as close to normal as possible in a pandemic but also clearly based on the science. let s listen to part of her response. let me make clear that we are standing on the shoulders of two years of science, two years of understanding transmissibility and a lot of information that we have gleaned from the wildtype virus as well as the alpha and delta variants, and more that we continue to learn every single day about omicron. reporter: we also heard walensky explain, as she did in a number of interviews this morning, something that s really important as it relates to testing for individuals who are known already to have been infected by the virus. there s been some questions about whether you should get a test after that five-day period of isolation in order to return to the workplace, to return to schools. certainly a lot
cases has topped 262,000, surpassing the record that was set last january. short time ago, cdc director walensky defended her agency s decision to cut in half the recommended isolation time for people who test positive but are asymptomatic. she said the move was driven by the science not pressure from the business community. and dr. fauci acknowledged that more children are being infected with covid and that it s still not known how severe the virus, omicron in particular, is in children. unanswered questions as schools nationwide map out their plans for students to return after winter break next week. joining me now is nbc news white house correspondent mike memoli, dr. william shaffner. mike, let s start with you. the white house task force briefed a little more than an
looking forward to seeing you then. in the meantime, you can catch me on nbc news now, our streaming network, weekdays at 3:00 p.m. eastern. my colleague joe picks up the coverage right now. welcome to msnbc reports. it s 1:00 p.m. here in new york, 10:00 a.m. out west. this hour, covid clarifications. the white house covid task force aims to clear up confusion about testing, transmissibility and quarantines for those who test positive for the virus. plus, breaking news. nbc news has just learned president biden will speak with vladimir putin tomorrow as tensions continue to mount over russia s aggressive actions for ukraine. and remembering harry reid. a look back at the life and legacy of the former senate majority leader. but we begin with the pandemic. the seven-day average of new