Washington (CNN) Biden administration officials on Sunday sought to message urgent steps taken last week to contain an increase in Delta variant Covid-19 cases as necessary to keep Americans safe, even as they said the country remains in a far better place than earlier in the pandemic. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg framed President Joe Biden's new requirement for federal workers to attest to being vaccinated or face stringent mitigation measures as an office safety protocol. "This is a basic safety measure at a time when we see this dangerous variant spreading around our country," he told ABC News. As of Saturday, the seven-day average of new Covid cases was over 78,000 new cases daily, nearly 2.5 times what it was two weeks ago. Buttigieg said Sunday that Biden's new rules should act as a model for private entities -- many of which announced mandates for their employees before the federal requirement.

Source: CNN August 01, 2021 19:43 UTC