CDC's latest guidance raises more doubts about Biden's pandemic response

President Joe Biden's coronavirus pandemic response is facing a new wave of questions after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its mitigation guidance earlier in the week.

The new rules reduce the quarantine time for positive cases from 10 to five days as long as positive individuals continue to wear a mask in necessary situations and is based on science indicating that the "majority of SARS-CoV-2 transmission occurs early in the course of illness," per CDC officials. The guidance also removes certain benchmarks for leaving quarantine, including consecutive negative PCR tests and antigen tests entirely.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky cited economic and social reasons during a host of Wednesday appearances defending the updated guidance.

"We shortened the time to encourage people to do the right thing," she said in an interview with CBS. "We don't want them out and about when they are maximally infectious."