The Biden administration is moving forward on a rule to make at-home rapid tests reimbursable for insured Americans.

Beginning Jan. 15, Americans will get up to eight tests covered per month, as well as an unlimited number of tests covered if ordered or administered by a doctor or nurse.

"Insurance companies and health plans are required to cover 8 free over-the-counter at-home tests per covered individual per month. That means a family of four, all on the same plan, would be able to get up to 32 of these tests covered by their health plan per month. There is no limit on the number of tests, including at-home tests, that are covered if ordered or administered by a health care provider following an individualized clinical assessment, including for those who may need them due to underlying medical conditions," the Department of Health and Human Services said in a press release.

-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett

In Washington, D.C., a vaccine mandate for restaurants, nightclubs, bars and indoor venues is set to begin on Jan. 15.

But 19 House Republicans sent a letter to Mayor Muriel Bowser on Monday saying that the mandate "will not prevent the virus from spreading."

"This sweeping mandate, however, will harm the District’s economic recovery and lock many Americans out of their capital city," the Republicans wrote, adding, "We urge you to withdraw the Order."

The city is seeing some improvement in COVID-19 case numbers, D.C. Health’s senior deputy director, Patrick Ashley, told reporters on Monday.

"We're very hopeful based on that data that we are getting to a better spot," Ashley said. "It's still certainly high. It's still an area for concern and we don't expect that to go down overnight.”

-ABC News' Beatrice Peterson

In New Jersey, hospitalizations are at the highest point since April 2020, and the number of patients in ICUs and needing ventilators are on the rise, Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday.

"We’re in the thick of this latest fight against the omicron tsunami marching across the state," the governor said at a news conference.

New Jersey is recording more deaths now than at any point in the last year and more daily cases than any point of the pandemic, he said.

Murphy added on Twitter, "The percentage of infections among individuals who have at least completed their primary vaccination courses has been creeping up over the past several weeks – but the unvaccinated are still the ones testing positive by a rate of more than two-to-one."

-ABC News' Matthew Foster

U.S. hospitalizations have reached a record high with more than 141,000 Americans now in hospitals with COVID-19, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services.

It's not clear how many of these patients were admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 and how many people tested positive for the virus after they were admitted for other reasons. 

About 25.3% of U.S. hospitals with available data are reporting critical staffing shortages.

In the last week, the U.S. has reported nearly 4.7 million new COVID-19 cases -- the highest weekly case number on record, according to federal data.

Roughly one in every 70 Americans tested positive for COVID-19 this week alone.

New York City holds the nation's highest case rate.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

Russian officials are warning that an omicron-fueled wave of COVID-19 infections will soon hit, amid fears about how deadly a surge of the highly contagious variant -- even if milder -- might be in a country with a low vaccination rate.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova, who is overseeing the COVID-19 response, and Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said Wednesday that the situation could be "more critical" than previous waves of infections in Russia -- a worrying prospect since earlier waves led to a high number of deaths.

Russia has reported more than 312,000 fatalities from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. However, the country registered just under 1 million excess deaths in 2021.

The Russian government has said the country will soon see six-figure daily cases. Less than 50% of Russians are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, amid widespread reluctance across the nation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has largely tried to downplay the scale of his country's COVID-19 outbreak, warned Wednesday of the imminent increase in infections. Putin said Russia is "on the threshold of possible new outbreaks."

Meanwhile, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said the country is at a "turning point," which will decide how bad the wave will be. Russian authorities are calling for people to take precautions and observe social distancing measures. However, there are relatively few restrictions in most parts of the country.

Denis Logunov, deputy director of Russia's Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology, said Tuesday that the nationwide number of omicron cases is expected to rise considerably in late January and early February. The World Health Organization's regional director for Europe, Dr. Hans Kluge, also warned Tuesday that omicron is expected to infect more than half of Europe's population within the next two months.

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell