• With cases on the rise, the Biden administration restarted a program that has provided hundreds of millions of tests through the Postal Service.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): The Biden administration restarted a program on Thursday, December 15 that provides free coronavirus tests to American households through the Postal Service, part of a new push by the government to head off rises in virus cases and hospitalizations during the holiday season.

Federal health officials are staring down a resurgence of the virus as well as worrisome outbreaks of the flu and respiratory syncytial virus, or R.S.V., amounting to what some experts have termed a “tripledemic.”

Dr. Ashish K. Jha, the White House’s Covid-19 response coordinator, said at a news briefing that while R.S.V. cases appeared to be on the decline, the nation was contending with the worst flu outbreak in a decade alongside another coronavirus surge. He again urged Americans, particularly older and more vulnerable ones, to seek out vaccines and booster shots. “We don’t want this winter to look like last winter or the winter before, and it doesn’t have to,” Dr. Jha told reporters at the White House. “We need people to get that vaccine.”

Over 600 million tests were distributed through the mail before the administration paused the program in September, citing a lack of funding. The program is being revived after federal officials dipped into what the White House described as “limited existing funding” from the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill that was enacted early in President Biden’s term. Households are now able to order four tests at covidtests.gov, with shipments beginning next week.

(Source: New York Times)