GE suspends Covid vaccine and testing rules after Supreme Court blocks Biden mandate

An employee at the Fort Worth, Texas, facility of GE Manufacturing Solutions helps install a traction motor on a diesel locomotive.

The Biden administration's mandate was blocked by the Supreme Court, so General Electric suspended its Covid vaccine and testing requirement.

GE encouraged its employees to get vaccinations, the spokesman said.

In a 6-3 ruling, the Supreme Court called the Biden administration's requirements a "blunt instrument" that doesn't differentiate based on industry or risk of exposure to Covid-19.

The president called on companies to implement the vaccine and testing rules after the court's decision.

Biden said that the court ruled that the administration couldn't use the authority granted to it by Congress. I use my voice as president to advocate for employers to do the right thing to protect Americans' health and economy.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has the authority to hold businesses accountable for protecting workers.

Walsh urged employers to require workers to be tested weekly to fight the deadly virus in the workplace. Employers are responsible for the safety of their workers.

The American Medical Association, one of the largest doctors' groups in the U.S., said in dissent that the Supreme Court had blocked one of the most effective tools in the fight against further transmission and death from this aggressive virus.

The spread of Covid-19 has been influenced by workplace transmission. Workers in all settings need commonsense, evidence-based protections against Covid-19 infections.

Businesses were urged to protect their workers against the disease. Several large companies, including Citigroup, Nike and Columbia Sportswear, have said they would begin firing workers who are notvaccinated.

The Covid omicron variant is driving new infections. The US is reporting an average of 786,000 new infections every day, up 29% over the previous week, according to a CNBC analysis of data from the University of Baltimore.

The federal data shows that hospitalizations are at a high in the summer of 2020. The seven-day average of Health and Human Services data shows that the number of Americans in hospitals with Covid increased by 23% from a week earlier. There are two patients that were admitted to the hospital due to Covid who tested positive.

CNBC's Nathan Rattner contributed to the report.