The Biden administration is again offering some free COVID-19 testing to all U.S. households as it unveils contingency plans for potential outbreaks of the coronavirus this winter.
After a three-month hiatus, the administration will make four rapid virus tests per household available through covidtests.gov starting Thursday. COVID-19 cases have shown a marked increase after the Thanksgiving holiday and are expected to increase further due to indoor gatherings and travel around Christmas and New Year.
The administration is putting staff and equipment on standby if necessary to help overwhelmed hospitals and nursing homes, as was needed during previous waves of the virus. The White House said that so far, there have been no requests for assistance, but that anti-mutagenic teams, ventilators and personal protective equipment are ready.
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The Biden administration is also urging states and local governments to do more to encourage people to get an updated bivalent COVID-19 vaccine, which scientists say is more effective in protection against serious illness and death from currently circulating variants. The government is reiterating best practices for nursing homes and long-term care facilities for virus prevention and treatment, and is urging regulators and governments to encourage vulnerable residents. new vaccine injury.
The plan comes as the administration has struggled to convince most Americans to take up-to-date booster drugs as cases and deaths have fallen from the pandemic’s high and most people have accepted a return to most of their pre-pandemic activities.
A White House official said the new tests would be drawn from the national stockpile, which will remain in stock after the administration halts the home-testing program in September. New tests will be purchased for testing. replace the tests distributed in the coming weeks according to existing funding agencies. The Biden administration is still asking Congress for billions of dollars more in response to the virus.
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