Americans have been searching for scarce home tests or waiting hours in line at testing facilities to find out if they have COVID-19 before the holidays. Infections are averaging around 149,000 a day in the U.S., up from 75,000 at the start of November.
In the United States, infections average around 149,000 a day, up from 75,000 a day at the start of November.
“Take a test before you gather,” the agency’s director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, said this week as omicron led to spiking cases ahead of the holidays. “As soon as my wife called, I left work and came right here. I work with a lot of people and in different places so I needed to make sure,” said Bushgjokaj, who is vaccinated. He said his daughter’s illness has added uncertainty to their holiday break.
Manufacturers are working to increase supplies. Abbott said it’s seeing “unprecedented demand” for its popular BinaxNOW tests and that it plans to expand production to 70 million tests in January, up from more than 50 million this month. The company said it can further boost production in coming months.
Biden announced Tuesday that the federal government would for the first time start mailing 500 million free rapid tests directly to Americans in January. Details have not yet been released, but officials say people will be able to use a new website to order their tests, which will be mailed to them at no charge.
Experts say the latest efforts still will not be enough for all Americans to test at that rate. The U.S. would need 2.3 billion tests per month for everyone 12 and older to do that, according to the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation.At a city-run children’s day camp in Fort Collins, Colorado, boxes of rapid tests were available for free this week. Staffers told parents to take as many as they needed.