The White House is considering making "more high-quality masks" available to all Americans, according to White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients.

"We're in the process right now of strongly considering options to make more high-quality masks available to all Americans," he said at Wednesday's briefing.

-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett

Deaths in the U.S. are on the rise. The average now stands at more than 1,600 new COVID-19-related fatalities each day -- up by about 48% in the last two weeks, according to federal data.

Out of the 3,220 U.S. counties, just 26 counties are not reporting high transmission, according to federal data.

In the last week alone, the U.S. has reported more than 5.2 million new cases -- that averages out to nearly nine Americans testing positive for COVID-19 every second.

Rhode Island is reporting the nation's highest new case rate, while California is now averaging more than 100,000 new cases every day -- a pandemic high for the Golden State.

But, according to experts, the surging national case numbers may not be indicative of what is happening in every region, and the nation's overall continued increase does not necessarily mean that some areas will not see a decline.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

At Wednesday's White House briefing Dr. Anthony Fauci was asked if people are protected from getting omicron again, and he said the information isn't available yet.

But CDC director Rochelle Walensky outlined a study from Kaiser Permanente Southern California that showed, compared to delta, omicron had a 53% reduction in adjusted risk of symptomatic hospitalization, a 74% reduction in adjusted risk of ICU admission and a 91% reduction in adjusted risk of death.

"The data in this study remain consistent with what we are seeing from omicron in other countries, including South Africa and the U.K., and provide some understanding of what we can expect over the coming weeks as cases are predicted to peak in this country," Walensky said.

-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett

At Wednesday's White House briefing, when asked about changing the CDC's mask guidance CDC director Rochelle Walensky said the guidance won't change but the CDC will update its website to reflect which masks work best, without telling Americans which one to wear.

"CDC continues to recommend that any mask is better than no mask and we do encourage all Americans to wear a well-fitting mask to protect themselves and prevent the spread of COVID 19. And that recommendation is not going to change," Walensky said.

"We are preparing an update to the information on our mask website to best reflect the options that are available … and the different levels of protection different masks provide. And we want to provide Americans the best and most updated information to choose what mask is going to be right for them," she said.

"The best mask that you wear is the one that you will wear and the one you can keep on all day long that you can tolerate in public indoor settings and tolerate where you need to wear it," Walensky said. "We will provide information on improved filtration and that occurs with other masks such as N95s and information that the public needs about how to make a choice, which mask is the right one for them. But most importantly, we want to highlight the best mask for you as the one that you can wear comfortably."

-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett

Following heated exchanges between Dr. Anthony Fauci and several Republican senators at a Congressional hearing Tuesday, more than 200 prominent science and public health leaders have now penned an open letter voicing their support of the White House chief medical adviser's service and leadership -- and condemning attacks against him. 

"We deplore the personal attacks on Dr. Fauci," the letter says. "The criticism is inaccurate, unscientific, ill-founded in the facts and, increasingly, motivated by partisan politics. It is a distraction from what should be the national focus -- working together to finally overcome a pandemic that is killing about 500,000 people a year."

Signatories include former Senate majority leader Bill Frist, a Republican; Rich Besser, former acting director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; members of President Joe Biden's transition COVID-19 task force; and several Nobel laureates.

The letter comes two days after a Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee hearing, during which Fauci publicly accused Republican Sen. Rand Paul of fomenting the violent threats and harassment that he and his family have had to contend with during the pandemic's politicized climate.

-ABC News' Sasha Pezenik