Biden announces free tests and defends the White House response as COVID cases surge
3 years ago

Biden announces free tests and defends the White House response as COVID cases surge

NPR  

Biden announces free tests and defends the White House response as COVID cases surge Enlarge this image toggle caption Patrick Semansky/AP Patrick Semansky/AP President Biden told Americans that he understands "how tired, worried and frustrated you are" about the latest COVID-19 case surge in the U.S. and announced several new steps to deal with the highly contagious omicron variant. The administration's response, Biden said "was not a failure," and he asserted that "I don't think anybody anticipated it would spread as rapidly as it did." Health Surgeon General Murthy says the U.S. has more tools now to fight COVID Surgeon General Murthy says the U.S. has more tools now to fight COVID Listen · 7:20 7:20 To those wondering if they can safely celebrate the holidays with family and friends, Biden said, "The answer is yes, you can" — as long as everyone has been vaccinated. Enlarge this image toggle caption Jon Cherry/Getty Images Jon Cherry/Getty Images And Biden said the government will beef up support for hospitals seeing high numbers of unvaccinated people who get sick from COVID.

White House Covid Surge Npr Sponsor Message Wachter This Surge Free Tests Tests Biden  needs  response  white  house  surge  covid  free  tests  biden  wachter  number  vaccinated  going  omicron  defends  cases

History of this topic

Free COVID-19 home tests are back for US households, Here's how to order yours online
1 year, 3 months ago

Free COVID-19 home tests are back for US households, Here's how to order yours online

Hindustan Times  

The US Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday that it will resume a program that offers free Covid-19 home tests to Americans. The Biden administration has announced that it is providing $600 million in funding to produce new at-home COVID-19 tests and is restarting a website allowing Americans to again order up to four free tests per household. …

Biden government to deliver free COVID tests again to US households
1 year, 3 months ago

Biden government to deliver free COVID tests again to US households

Live Mint  

The US Department of Health and Human Services said on September 20 that it will deliver COVID-19 tests for free to households across the country, reported Reuters. The health agency said that starting from September 25, households will again have the option to request four free tests via COVIDTests.gov. The HHS further said that these tests are designed to identify …

Biden administration announces $600M to produce COVID tests and will reopen website to order them
1 year, 3 months ago

Biden administration announces $600M to produce COVID tests and will reopen website to order them

The Independent  

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it is providing $600 …

U.S. announces $600 million to produce COVID tests and will reopen website for orders
1 year, 3 months ago

U.S. announces $600 million to produce COVID tests and will reopen website for orders

LA Times  

The Biden administration is providing $600 million to produce new at-home COVID-19 tests and is resurrecting a website allowing Americans to again order up to four free tests per household. The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it is providing $600 million in funding to produce new at-home COVID-19 tests and is restarting a website allowing Americans to again order up …

Free rapid tests available again in preparation for possible winter COVID surge
2 years ago

Free rapid tests available again in preparation for possible winter COVID surge

LA Times  

The Biden administration is making free coronavirus tests available to U.S. households again. The Biden administration is again making free coronavirus tests available to all U.S. households as it unveils contingency plans for potential COVID-19 surges this winter. After a three-month hiatus, the administration Thursday began making four rapid tests available to all American households through covidtests.gov, said a senior …

Biden seeks $47B for Ukraine, COVID-19, monkeypox, disasters
2 years, 4 months ago

Biden seeks $47B for Ukraine, COVID-19, monkeypox, disasters

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is asking Congress to provide more than $47 billion in emergency dollars that would go toward the war in Ukraine, the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing monkeypox outbreak and help for recent natural disasters in Kentucky and other states. In Friday’s request, the White House is seeking $7.1 billion to procure additional vaccines …

Biden tests negative for COVID, but stays in isolation until 2nd test can confirm result
2 years, 5 months ago

Biden tests negative for COVID, but stays in isolation until 2nd test can confirm result

LA Times  

President Biden speaks Friday outside the White House, where he’s been working in isolation, before signing two bills aimed at combating fraud in COVID-19 relief programs for small businesses. Dr. Kevin O’Connor wrote in his latest daily update that the president, “in an abundance of caution,” will abide by the “strict isolation measures” in place since his “rebound” infection was …

More free COVID rapid tests are available. Here’s how to get yours
2 years, 7 months ago

More free COVID rapid tests are available. Here’s how to get yours

LA Times  

According to the CDC, rapid tests do a good job detecting COVID-19 in someone who is showing symptoms of the disease, such as a cough, a fever or a sore throat. Response to the administration’s previous offer of free kits wasn’t exactly overwhelming, though — according to the White House, more than 70 million households ordered kits online, out of …

Nearly half of Biden’s 500 million free COVID tests still unclaimed
2 years, 10 months ago

Nearly half of Biden’s 500 million free COVID tests still unclaimed

LA Times  

Experts say COVID-19 testing will become more important with the easing of mask orders. Nearly half of the 500 million free COVID-19 tests the Biden administration recently made available to the public still have not been claimed as virus cases plummet and people feel less urgency to test. “We know the market is volatile and will come up and down …

60 million households have requested free Covid-19 rapid tests, White House says
2 years, 11 months ago

60 million households have requested free Covid-19 rapid tests, White House says

CNN  

CNN — The White House said on Friday some 60 million households have requested free Covid-19 rapid tests so far, with tens of millions tests having “gone out the door” as part of the Biden administration’s program to mail more than half a billion rapid tests to Americans around the country. White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told …

Free Covid tests distributed by White House may not be considered valid for travel
2 years, 11 months ago

Free Covid tests distributed by White House may not be considered valid for travel

Daily Mail  

Dr David Weber, an epidemiologist at UNC-Chapel Hill, said that at-home tests distributed by the Biden administration may not be usable for travel requirements Free home COVID tests funded by Joe Biden will likely not be approved to get around existing travel rules because it is too easy to fake a negative result, a health expert has warned. Dr David …

Seniors are at high risk of COVID, but Medicare doesn't pay for rapid tests
2 years, 11 months ago

Seniors are at high risk of COVID, but Medicare doesn't pay for rapid tests

NPR  

Seniors are at high risk of COVID, but Medicare doesn't pay for rapid tests Enlarge this image toggle caption Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images What group is especially vulnerable to the ravages of COVID-19 even if fully vaccinated and boosted? And who will have an especially tough time getting free at-home COVID tests …

There's now a phone line to order your free at-home COVID tests
2 years, 11 months ago

There's now a phone line to order your free at-home COVID tests

NPR  

There's now a phone line to order your free at-home COVID tests Enlarge this image toggle caption Steven Senne/AP Steven Senne/AP The Biden administration on Friday opened a phone line for people to order free at-home COVID-19 tests. Sponsor Message The website — COVIDtests.gov — began taking at-home test orders on Tuesday and the tests began shipping out Thursday, according …

US launches website to provide free at-home COVID tests
2 years, 11 months ago

US launches website to provide free at-home COVID tests

Al Jazeera  

With a new website, launched one day ahead of the official date, Americans can order up to four free test kits per household. People in the United States can now order free COVID-19 test kits online, as the White House moves to boost testing capacity amid a surge in coronavirus infections linked to the Omicron variant. The programme initially will …

Biden announces new measures to combat Omicron threat
2 years, 11 months ago

Biden announces new measures to combat Omicron threat

Al Jazeera  

US Joe Biden President said that teams of military medical personnel would be dispatched to help six states hard-hit by COVID. United States President Joe Biden announced the doubling of rapid at-home COVID-19 tests and the deployment of medical personnel to six hard-hit states as the nation confronts a surge in Omicron variant cases. Biden also announced that starting next …

Google offers staff pricey fast Covid tests while contract workers have to wait
2 years, 11 months ago

Google offers staff pricey fast Covid tests while contract workers have to wait

Live Mint  

Google offers its full-time employees working from home a supply of high-end instant Covid-19 tests. The Alphabet Inc. company allows U.S. full-time employees and their dependents to request Covid-19 tests from Cue Health Inc., which provide results at home within a few minutes, according to a document reviewed by Bloomberg. Contract workers who must report in-person to Google’s offices receive …

Biden pledges more US school COVID tests in bid to avoid closures
2 years, 11 months ago

Biden pledges more US school COVID tests in bid to avoid closures

Al Jazeera  

The initiative comes as the White House faces mounting criticism over long lines and supply shortages for testing. The White House on Wednesday said it would make available five million lab-based PCR tests and five million rapid tests monthly starting in January to ease supply shortages and to help schools safely reopen following the holiday break. In a news release …

Biden vowed to fix testing. But he didn’t plan for Omicron.
2 years, 11 months ago

Biden vowed to fix testing. But he didn’t plan for Omicron.

CNN  

CNN — As President Joe Biden was spending his holidays with family at the White House and in Delaware, he was frustrated to see images on television of Americans waiting in long lines for Covid-19 tests. By December, it was evident Biden was falling short of the promise he had made as a candidate that “anyone who wants a test …

EXPLAINER: Where are the COVID-19 tests that Biden promised?
3 years ago

EXPLAINER: Where are the COVID-19 tests that Biden promised?

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced last month that the federal government will buy half a billion COVID-19 rapid test kits and distribute them free to people to use at home. The federal government is expected to get delivery of the first batch of tests “over the next week or so,” according to White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients. “We’re …

Biden administration signs first contract for free rapid Covid-19 test distribution
3 years ago

Biden administration signs first contract for free rapid Covid-19 test distribution

CNN  

CNN — The Biden administration has signed its first contracts with a Covid-19 test manufacturer as part of President Joe Biden’s efforts to distribute half a billion free rapid tests throughout the country, a White House official confirms to CNN. The Department of Defense awarded a $51 million contract to Goldbelt Security, LLC, “for delivery of over-the-counter COVID-19 test kits.” …

Biden concedes not enough has been done to expand Covid-19 testing capacity: ‘We have more work to do’
3 years ago

Biden concedes not enough has been done to expand Covid-19 testing capacity: ‘We have more work to do’

CNN  

Washington CNN — President Joe Biden, speaking to the nation’s governors, conceded Monday the steps he took earlier this year to scale up testing capacity for Covid-19 weren’t enough to meet demand as a wave driven by the highly transmissible Omicron variant crashes across the country. He said long testing lines over the Christmas weekend “shows that we have more …

Biden pledges to support states in struggle against COVID
3 years ago

Biden pledges to support states in struggle against COVID

LA Times  

President Biden on Monday promised the federal government would do all it could to assist states facing surges in COVID-19 cases from the contagious Omicron variant, assuring governors that the administration was seeking to boost testing and vaccination capacity. Biden’s pledge came a week after federal health officials said Omicron surpassed the Delta variant as the leading cause of new …

Biden says ‘nothing’s been good enough’ as Covid hotspots see testing shortages
3 years ago

Biden says ‘nothing’s been good enough’ as Covid hotspots see testing shortages

CNN  

CNN — President Joe Biden on Wednesday acknowledged his administration has struggled to meet the nation’s demand for Covid-19 tests, but he defended the federal response to a surge in cases – driven largely by the Omicron variant. In a one-on-one interview by ABC News, interviewer David Muir asked the President whether the administration’s efforts were “good enough,” given that …

Biden pivots to home tests to confront omicron surge
3 years ago

Biden pivots to home tests to confront omicron surge

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — Fighting the omicron variant surging through the country, President Joe Biden announced the government will provide 500 million free rapid home-testing kits, increase support for hospitals under strain and redouble vaccination and boosting efforts. He noted that former President Donald Trump has gotten his booster shot, and he said it’s Americans’ “patriotic duty” to get vaccinated. White House …

Biden administration to distribute 500 million at-home Covid-19 test kits
3 years ago

Biden administration to distribute 500 million at-home Covid-19 test kits

Live Mint  

WASHINGTON : The Biden administration will distribute 500 million free at-home Covid-19 testing kits to Americans and take steps to deploy federal medical personnel to overburdened hospitals this winter, as the Omicron variant spreads around the country. Mr. Biden is expected to stress that Americans should take the Omicron variant seriously but shouldn’t panic, according to administration officials. Mr. Biden …

Biden says US to provide 500 million home tests as Omicron surges
3 years ago

Biden says US to provide 500 million home tests as Omicron surges

Al Jazeera  

US president renews his call for Americans to get vaccinated and receive COVID booster shots amid Omicron variant’s spread. With COVID-19 cases on the rise across the United States, President Joe Biden has announced a series of steps to mitigate the spread of the virus, including broader access to at-home testing, new vaccination sites and more federal support for “COVID-burdened” …

Omicron: Biden administration finds itself on defense as variant races across the US
3 years ago

Omicron: Biden administration finds itself on defense as variant races across the US

CNN  

CNN — The Biden administration is once again on the defensive as the pandemic cuts its wildly unpredictable course, upending American lives with the holidays around the corner and the tools that could make for safer gathering – widespread, easily available testing – in short supply nearly two years into the crisis. Because Omicron appears to be so much more …

Biden assures Americans vaccinated against Covid-19 that they can go ahead with holiday plans despite Omicron surge
3 years ago

Biden assures Americans vaccinated against Covid-19 that they can go ahead with holiday plans despite Omicron surge

CNN  

CNN — President Joe Biden aimed to reassure vaccinated Americans that they can still proceed with their holiday plans without fear of becoming seriously ill, announcing a number of new efforts to combat a surge of Covid-19 cases in the United States. “To be clear, we’re not sending a test to every single home in the country,” White House press …

Biden outlines new Omicron strategy, will order 500 million at-home tests for Americans
3 years ago

Biden outlines new Omicron strategy, will order 500 million at-home tests for Americans

LA Times  

The president said the Omicron variant of the coronavirus will result in more “breakthrough” infections among vaccinated Americans. President Biden on Tuesday warned that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus is expected to cause breakthrough infections “potentially in large numbers” and urged Americans to get vaccinated because “it’s the only responsible thing to do.” “Omicron is serious and potentially deadly …

Biden prepares military medics and hospital supplies as Omicron wave hits U.S.
3 years ago

Biden prepares military medics and hospital supplies as Omicron wave hits U.S.

LA Times  

President Biden walks toward Marine One on Monday. President Biden will announce Tuesday that he’s mobilizing military medical personnel and distributing emergency equipment in preparation for a wave of new infections caused by the Omicron variant, according to a senior administration official. The administration suggested this year that vaccinated people didn’t need to be tested even if they came in …

Biden's new winter COVID plan will reimburse you for at-home tests
3 years, 1 month ago

Biden's new winter COVID plan will reimburse you for at-home tests

NPR  

Biden's new winter COVID plan will reimburse you for at-home tests Enlarge this image toggle caption Evan Vucci/AP Evan Vucci/AP President Biden announced Thursday that private health insurance plans will soon reimburse people who buy over-the-counter, at-home rapid tests for the coronavirus — one of a series of steps the White House is planning in order to encourage better detection …

Biden outlines new steps to combat Covid through winter months
3 years, 1 month ago

Biden outlines new steps to combat Covid through winter months

CNN  

CNN — President Joe Biden announced a new strategy Thursday aimed at fighting a potential winter surge of Covid-19 without enacting unpopular lockdowns as the pandemic approaches its two-year mark. “A plan, I think, that should unite us.” Biden’s speech, delivered from the campus of the National Institutes of Health in Maryland, came as cases of the worrying new Omicron …

US commits $1 billion access to rapid, at-home Covid tests
3 years, 3 months ago

US commits $1 billion access to rapid, at-home Covid tests

India TV News  

The White House has announced an investment worth $1 billion worth for rapid, at-home coronavirus tests to address ongoing shortages. The move will quadruple the number of tests available to Americans by December, Jeff Zients, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, was quoted as saying at a press briefing on Wednesday. "That means, we'll have an available supply of 200 …

Biden bets on rapid COVID tests but they can be hard to find
3 years, 3 months ago

Biden bets on rapid COVID tests but they can be hard to find

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is betting on millions more rapid, at-home tests to help curb the latest deadly wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is overloading hospitals and threatening to shutter classrooms around the country. Experts say encouraging signs last spring led to false confidence about the shrinking role for tests: falling case numbers, rising vaccination rates and guidance …

Here are 4 ways Biden team's response to positive COVID test shows the breadth of Trumpworld's incompetence
4 years, 2 months ago

Here are 4 ways Biden team's response to positive COVID test shows the breadth of Trumpworld's incompetence

Raw Story  

The Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns' response to the COVID-19 pandemic have differed vastly and their handling of internal outbreaks varies just as greatly. On Thursday morning, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's campaign announced that two staffers for vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris tested positive for coronavirus. Conley's statements also raised speculation that Trump may have tested positive at …

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