Psaki denies White House ‘lost control’ of COVID despite surge in cases

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Reporter to Jen Psaki: There's a sense the country has lost control of the virus

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki rejects the notion that the U.S. has lost control of the coronavirus.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki denied that the Biden administration has "lost control" of the COVID-19 pandemic on Tuesday when pressed by a reporter who pointed out the rise of issues related to the omicron coronavirus variant.

President Biden routinely promised on the campaign trail that he would "shut down" the virus if elected and regularly asserted it was former President Trump's ineptitude that "caused the country to have to shut down in large part," often claiming his administration would take care of the pandemic more efficiently. However, as the omicron variant has spread throughout the country, CBS News reporter Ed O’Keefe took notice that many issues have only gotten worse. 

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White House press secretary Jenn Psaki denied that the Biden administration has "lost control" of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

"Cases are rising across the country. Tests are hard to come by in many places, or there is long lines for them. Schools are closing again or having to go virtual and that’s not because of the weather, in some parts of the country, but because of the pandemic. There is a sense among many that the country has lost control over the virus," O’Keefe said before asking, "Would the White House agree with that?" 

Psaki quickly shot back, "We would not."

The COVID-19 testing line wrapped around the block at Long Beach City College PCH campus, according to social media and on-site workers on Dec. 27, 2021. (Brittany Murray/MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty Images)

"We’re in a very different place than we were a year ago, Ed. 200 million people are vaccinated. Those are people who are protected, seriously protected from illness and death from the virus. We have also just purchased the largest over-the-counter purchase of tests in history," Psaki said. "That builds on the fact that we have already distributed 50 million tests back in December to rural health center, to community health centers, the fact that we have 20,000 sites across the country where you can get free tests, the fact that next week people can get reimbursed for their tests, and we are going to continue to build on that."

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Psaki then declared "97% of schools are open" and Biden "wants schools to be open" despite a surge in COVID cases across the nation. 

"He advocated for $130 million in the American Rescue Plan and $10 billion to cover testing, even when many people said that was not necessary and was not needed," Psaki said. "That has all been distributed to states. If states have not used it, and some have not, and school districts have not used it, now is the time to use it. So I would note that we have taken steps to prepare for any contingency, any moment, and we’re working to implement and build on that from here." 

People line up for COVID-19 test kits in New York on Dec. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File) 

The rise of omicron has coincided with a record surge in new COVID-19 cases across the country. 

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The new omicron variant of COVID-19 was responsible for 95.4% of all new cases in the week that ended Jan. 1, according to CDC data released Tuesday. It took only about a month for the new variant to displace delta, as the first case of omicron was detected in the United States on Dec. 1, and it was responsible for just 0.6% of new cases for the week that ended Dec. 4. 

Omicron was responsible for 8% of cases by Dec. 11, 37.9% of cases by Dec. 18, and 77% of cases by Dec. 25. 

New hospital admissions for COVID-19 were up to 10,185 on Dec. 28, an increase over the 6,592 that were admitted on Dec. 1, when omicron was first detected. The seven-day average for new deaths was 1,100 on Dec. 29, an increase over the 879 deaths that occurred on Dec. 1.

Fox News' Timothy H.J. Nerozzi and Paul Best contributed to this report.