USPS to Deliver 500 Million Home COVID Test Kits

After White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki pooh-poohed the idea of mailing COVID rapid test kits to all American households and a torrent of angry criticism followed, the Biden administration is doing just that. Thank you, Jen Psaki.

There are logistical hurdles to sending out test kits besides the expense of purchasing and delivering them, however. Instead of simply mailing kits to every U.S. houshold identified by the 2020 Census or making them availible at local pharmacies or public locations, the administration is setting up a website where people must request the kits. That didn’t work so well at the beginning of Obamacare, and there’s no reason to think the rollout will be any less rocky this time.

More:

“Anger at Jen Psaki Helped Americans Get Free Covid Rapid Tests,” Robert Mackey, The Intercept

“White House making final touches for plan to mail 500 million COVID test kits: report,” Mike Murphy, MarketWatch

“White House, USPS finalizing plans to begin shipping coronavirus test kits to U.S. households,” Jacob Bogage and Dan Diamond, Washington Post

Update:

“At-home COVID tests will be covered by insurance starting Saturday: Coronavirus Updates,” Jonathan Franklin, NPR

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Mask-Wearing Cuts Covid by 53%

Florence Nightingale, masked, after H. M. Bonham-Carter

A global research study published in BMJ shows that wearing facemasks is the most effective non-pharmaceutical measure reducing COVID-19 incidence and fatalities:

“Mask-wearing is the single most effective public health measure at tackling Covid, reducing incidence by 53%, the first global study of its kind shows.

Vaccines … do not confer 100% protection, most countries have not vaccinated everyone, and it is not yet known if jabs will prevent future transmission of emerging coronavirus variants.”

“Results from more than 30 studies from around the world were analysed in detail, showing a statistically significant 53% reduction in the incidence of Covid with mask wearing and a 25% reduction with physical distancing.”

— “Mask-wearing cuts Covid incidence by 53%, says global study,” Andrew Gregory, The Guardian

Related:

“As GOP Fights Mask and Vaccine Mandates, Florida Takes the Lead,” Patricia Mazzei, New York Times, via Yahoo News

“Mixed feelings as D.C. lifts mask mandate,” Chelsea Cirruzzo, Paige Hopkins, Cuneyt Dil, Axios

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Trump Blames Biden For Lack of National Mask Mandate

“President Donald Trump moved to blame his Democratic competitor, former Vice President Joe Biden, for not instituting a national mask mandate during the coronavirus pandemic.

The claim, made at an ABC News town hall Tuesday with undecided voters in Pennsylvania, is misleading for two reasons: Biden has, in fact, urged all state governors to mandate mask-wearing to slow the spread of COVID-19. The Democratic candidate is also not the president and has no authority to mandate anything. Trump does.”

— “Trump Blames Biden, Who Isn’t President, For Not Instituting Mask Mandate,” Nick Visser, Huffington Post 

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USPS Was Ready for COVID-19 In April. Trump Was Not.

In April, as the coronavirus pandemic was killing thousands of Americans, the United States Postal Service planned to distribute 650 million masks, five per U.S. household. and even drafted a press release. about it. The White House knew of the COVID-19 threat but was still “downplaying” it, and blocked the plan. Thousands more died.

More:

“White House reportedly scrapped plan to send masks to every American because it wanted to avoid ‘panic,'” Kathryn Krawczyk, The Week

“Newly revealed USPS documents show an agency struggling to manage Trump, Amazon and the pandemic,” Tony Romm, Jacob Bogage and Lena H. Sun, Washington Post

“Of Course Trump Nixed a Masks Plan That Could’ve Eradicated COVID-19 in April,” Bess Levin, Vanity Fair

Update:

“Trump administration scrapped plan to send every American a mask in April, email shows,” Laura Strickler and Geoff Bennett, NBC News

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Masks Work

Florence Nightingale masked, after H. M. Bonham-Carter

Face masks help contain the spread of COVID-19 better than you think. Henry Reich does the math:

How Masks Got Political

Health authorities agree: Wearing a mask can help stop the spread of the coronavirus. But even after thousands have died, many people still don’t believe it.

A Vox video by By Madeline Marshall.

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Put a Mask On It!

Wearing a mask minimizes the spread of the coronavirus, but some resist, in the name of … whatever. Allen Pan invented a gun that shoots a mask on to the faces of those suckers.

More:

“The Hero We Need Built a Gun That Shoots Masks Onto People’s Faces,” Andrew Liszewski, Gizmodo

Related:

“Fed up with anti-maskers, mask advocates are demanding mandates, fines — and common courtesy.” Marc Fisher, Washington Post

“To Get People to Wear Masks, Try Comparing Them to Seatbelts and Helmets,” Alex Wittenberg, CityLab

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Study: COVID-19 Infections Would Plummet If 80% of Americans Wore Masks

 

U.S. COVID-19 deaths now total 76,032, while Japan had 577 coronavirus fatalities. Adjusting for population, the Japanese death rate is 2% of America’s. The difference? Everyone in Japan wears masks. Berkeley computer scientist De Kai built the Masksim simulator and run multiple scenarios of mask usage. Bottom line: wear a mask.

More:

“If 80% of Americans Wore Masks, COVID-19 Infections Would Plummet, New Study Says,” David Ewing Duncan, Vanity Fair

“Universal Masking is Urgent in the COVID-19 Pandemic: SEIR and Agent Based Models, mpirical Validation, Policy Recommendations,” De Kai, Guy Philippe Goldstein, Alexey Morgunov, Vishal Nangalia, and Anna Rotkirch, arXiv

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Why You Should Wear a Mask

They don’t make you invincible, but they’re important in a pandemic. A Vox video by Laura Bult, Danush Parvaneh, and Estelle Caswell.

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