Biden to offer 500M at-home COVID-19 tests as virus surges

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WASHINGTON – As coronavirus cases surge successful the days earlier Christmas, President Joe Biden plans to summation enactment for hospitals, amended entree to COVID-19 testing done hundreds of millions of accelerated at-home tests and grow the availability of vaccines that tin trim the risks from the omicron variant.

The satellite is confronting the imaginable of a 2nd consecutive vacation play with COVID-19 arsenic families and friends statesman to stitchery portion the variant rapidly spreads. Scientists don’t yet cognize whether omicron causes much superior disease, but they bash cognize that vaccination should connection beardown protections against terrible unwellness and death. A elder medication official, insisting connected anonymity, provided details connected the proposals Biden volition denote successful his code Tuesday afternoon.

The medication is prepared to deploy an further 1,000 troops successful aesculapian professions to hospitals arsenic good arsenic nonstop national aesculapian unit to Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Arizona, New Hampshire and Vermont. There are besides plans to nonstop retired further ventilators and instrumentality from the nationalist stockpile too expanding infirmary capableness to grip infected patients.

The authorities volition acquisition 500 cardinal accelerated at-home tests to beryllium delivered for escaped to the homes of Americans who petition them. It volition besides found caller investigating sites and usage the Defense Production Act to assistance manufacture much tests. There volition besides beryllium pop-up vaccination sites, hundreds of caller radical to administer the vaccines and caller rules that marque it easier for pharmacists to enactment crossed authorities lines.

In a preview of Biden’s speech, White House property caput Jen Psaki said astatine Monday’s property briefing that the Democratic president doesn’t program to enforce immoderate lockdowns and volition alternatively beryllium encouraging radical to get inoculated — and, if they’re eligible, to get their booster shot.

“This is not a code astir locking the state down. This is simply a code astir the benefits of being vaccinated,” Psaki told reporters.

Biden’s apical aesculapian adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said implicit the play that Biden volition contented “a stark informing of what the wintertime volition look like” for unvaccinated Americans.

Biden has recovered himself successful the delicate presumption of some alerting the state to the dangers posed by omicron and reassuring Americans that the vaccines volition support them. White House officials are looking to easiness the federation backmost toward accepting the world of an endemic microorganism with acold little stakes for the vaccinated. This has meant mounting a hard equilibrium arsenic cases emergence and arsenic deaths and superior unwellness among the unvaccinated predominate headlines.

Underscoring however wide the microorganism is, the White House said precocious Monday that Biden had been successful adjacent interaction with a unit subordinate who aboriginal tested affirmative for COVID-19. The staffer spent astir 30 minutes astir the president connected Air Force One connected Friday connected a travel from Orange, South Carolina, to Philadelphia. The staffer, who was afloat vaccinated and boosted, tested affirmative earlier Monday, Psaki said.

Psaki said Biden has tested antagonistic doubly since Sunday and volition trial again connected Wednesday. Citing guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Psaki said Biden didn’t request to quarantine and would proceed with his regular schedule.

There are 40 cardinal eligible but unvaccinated American adults. Efforts to summation vaccination rates person struggled to flooded a bid of political, societal and taste divides. Psaki said the president plans to entreaty to endurance instincts.

“Our wellness experts measure that you are 14 times much apt to dice of COVID if you person not been vaccinated versus vaccinated,” she said Monday.

Scientists accidental omicron spreads adjacent easier than different coronavirus strains, including delta. It has already go the ascendant strain successful the U.S., accounting for astir three-quarters of caller infections past week.

Early studies suggest that the vaccinated volition request a booster changeable for the champion accidental astatine preventing an omicron corruption but that adjacent without the other dose, vaccination should inactive mostly support radical from superior sickness oregon death.

In New York City, nearly 42,600 radical citywide tested positive from Wednesday done Saturday — compared with less than 35,800 successful the full period of November. The metropolis has ne'er had truthful galore radical trial affirmative successful specified a abbreviated play of clip since investigating became wide available; there’s nary wide representation of however galore radical got the microorganism during the city’s archetypal surge successful the outpouring of 2020.

The latest outbreak reflects the planetary challenges of stopping the coronavirus pandemic.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said officials person decided against imposing further restrictions, astatine slightest for now.

“We volition person to reserve the anticipation of taking further enactment to support the public,” Johnson said Monday. “The arguments either mode are very, precise finely balanced.”

The Dutch authorities began a pugnacious nationwide lockdown connected Sunday to rein successful sharply rising infections, but galore European leaders person opted for thing less.

France and Germany person barred astir British travelers from entering, and the authorities successful Paris has banned nationalist concerts and fireworks displays astatine New Year’s celebrations. Ireland imposed an 8 p.m. curfew connected pubs and bars and constricted attendance astatine indoor and outdoor events, portion Greece volition person 10,000 constabulary officers connected work implicit the holidays to transportation retired COVID-19 walk checks.

In Spain, the nationalist mean of caller cases is treble what it was a twelvemonth ago. But authorities successful the state with 1 of Europe’s highest vaccination rates are betting chiefly connected mandatory mask-wearing indoors and the rollout of booster shots, with nary further restrictions planned.

Neighboring Portugal is telling astir nonessential workers to enactment from location for a week successful January, but the state has nary different caller measures successful the pipeline.

Stock markets successful Asia, Europe and the U.S. fell connected Monday with the anticipation that the infections could measurement connected planetary economical maturation and worsen planetary proviso concatenation challenges.

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Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.

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