As winter approaches, usually illnesses come with it, and the White House is preparing once again for a possible wave.
Starting Thursday the White House will make four rapid COVID-19 tests available for free through covidtests.gov. Cases have been rising since the Thanksgiving holiday and are only expected to continue to increase after Christmas and New Year’s, according to the Associated Press.
Personnel as well as necessary equipment will be placed on standby if hospitals are overwhelmed again this season. This has not yet been needed, but the Biden administration is urging local governments to prepare just to be safe.
Funds for these free tests have been reallocated from other virus programs in the meantime. The Biden administration is struggling to receive congressional buy-in for more emergency funding for COVID-19. The cost of this round of free tests has not been shared.
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