Biden Administration Finalizes Plans for Free At-Home COVID-19 Testing
President Biden is ramping up the United States’ response to COVID-19 as the omicron variant sweeps through the nation.
Public health experts have been pushing for the administration to expand testing access after cases began soaring due to the new variant’s high rate of transmissibility. The plan, which was supposed to go into effect on Jan. 19 but actually went live Jan. 18, will require a person’s private insurance to cover 8 at-home rapid tests per covered patient per month. No limit will be set on tests ordered by a health care provider, the administration said. In addition, 500 million tests will be available for delivery for those without insurance.
The Biden-Harris Administration is taking action to increase access to COVID-19 testing for Americans nationwide. pic.twitter.com/CwsywFNFsU
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 11, 2022
This news comes after the United States recorded its highest case count to date, with 1.4 million cases reported on Monday, Jan. 10, including the weekend backlog. The hospitalization rate is also extremely high: on average, 20,808 patients were hospitalized during the week of Jan. 10 to Jan. 16. On Jan. 11, 30% of ICU capacity was taken up by patients with the virus.
U.S. COVID update: Nearly 1.5 million new cases, incl. weekend backlogs
— BNO Newsroom (@BNODesk) January 11, 2022
– New cases: 1,459,005
– Average: 771,516 (+59,005)
– States reporting: 45/50
– In hospital: 140,268 (+4,158)
– In ICU: 23,884 (+845)
– New deaths: 2,235
– Average: 1,704 (+47)
Data: https://t.co/YDZSbYO7l7
The striking numbers have caused uproar among frontline workers and students who are unable to work or attend school remotely. In New York City, students walked out of Brooklyn Technical High School to protest continued in-person-only learning during the current COVID-19 surge.
In Chicago, teachers went on strike to protest the lack of protection against the virus. Following a week of school cancellations, the Chicago Teachers Union reached a deal with the city to return to school on Wednesday. New safety measures include testing 10% of students every week and clearer guidelines for when a school should make the switch to online.
In response to the in-school learning, the Biden Administration announced that 5 million rapid tests will be sent to K-12 schools by the end of January.
Visit the Center for Disease Control’s website to get updates on COVID-19 case counts, hospitalizations, and other related data.
