Coronavirus Watch: US still considering requiring negative test for domestic air travel

The Biden administration is still considering a rule that would require negative COVID-19 test results for domestic air travel, according to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The administration first floated the idea in late January. In an interview with Axios on Sunday, Buttigieg said there is an "active conversation'' with the the CDC on domestic testing.

"What I can tell you is it's going to be guided by data, by science and by the input of the people who are actually going to have to carry this out,'' he said. "But here's the thing. The safer we can make air travel, in terms of perception as well as reality, the more people are going to be ready to get back in the air.''

No details have been released publicly. Buttigieg, meanwhile, will quarantine for 14 days after a member of his security detail tested positive for COVID-19, his chief of staff announced Monday.

It's Tuesday, and this is the Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's more news that you need to know:

• President Joe Biden’s effort to create 100 mass vaccination sites nationwide in 100 days is well underway as California and Maryland announced new openings of several such sites last week. More people are getting shots, too, pushing states to expand eligibility as the U.S. government currently administers about 1.4 million vaccines a day.
• Congressional Democrats rejected calls from some moderate lawmakers to reduce the number of people eligible for $1,400 stimulus checks in President Joe Biden's COVID-19 relief proposal, proposing an income threshold of $75,000 annually, the same threshold as the last round of $600 checks.
• CVS and Walgreens will begin vaccinating select populations in stores this week, the companies say. Walgreens announced last week its program in 15 states will begin Friday, while CVS said Monday it was pushing back its start date in 11 states from Thursday to Friday.
• The U.S. reported 775,975 new cases in a seven-day period ending Monday, the first time the weekly tally has been under 800,000 cases since Nov. 6. The country peaked at about 1.75 million cases per week last month.

Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 27.1 million COVID-19 cases and 465,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, there have been more than 106.7 million cases and more than 2.3 million deaths.

See the numbers in your area here, check out where cases are rising here, and see how many vaccines your state has received here.

– Grace Hauck, Paste BN breaking news reporter, @grace_hauck