USPS is taking orders for COVID-19 test kits

The U.S. Postal Service urges you to stick it up your nose, for free:

“The U.S. Postal Service has begun taking orders for at-home coronavirus test kits.

The website [is] COVIDtests.gov….  (Click here to see how many users are on the test kit site.)

Each household order will contain four rapid tests, which the Postal Service says will be shipped for free ‘in late January.’

Some on Twitter reported problems with orders from residents of apartment buildings with multiple units being told that someone from that household had already ordered the tests.”

“The White House says it will prioritize shipments to Americans from ZIP codes that have experienced high rates of COVID-19 cases and deaths, with the first 20% of each day’s orders going to those areas.”

“There will also be a phone number so those without access to computers or high-speed internet can place orders.”

— “The Postal Service is now taking orders for COVID-19 test kits,” Brian Naylor, NPR News

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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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Trump-Supporting Areas Are COVID Death Holes

Republicans are now the largest unvaccinated group in the United States, and mistrust official sources of information about COVID-19 and vaccines. People living in counties that voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 election have been nearly three times as likely to die from COVID-19:

“NPR looked at deaths per 100,000 people in roughly 3,000 counties across the U.S. from May 2021, the point at which vaccinations widely became available. People living in counties that went 60% or higher for Trump in November 2020 had 2.7 times the death rates of those that went for Biden. Counties with an even higher share of the vote for Trump saw higher COVID-19 mortality rates.

In October, the reddest tenth of the country saw death rates that were six times higher than the bluest tenth, according to Charles Gaba, an independent health care analyst who’s been tracking partisanship trends during the pandemic and helped to review NPR’s methodology. Those numbers have dropped slightly in recent weeks, Gaba says: ‘It’s back down to around 5.5 times higher.'”

— “Pro-Trump counties now have far higher COVID death rates. Misinformation is to blame,” Daniel Wood and Geoff Brumfiel, NPR

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Back-to-School with the Delta Variant

It’s Back-to-School time in America, but this year that doesn’t just mean pencil cases, it aslo means cases of Pediatric COVID-19, 250,000 in the last week. Kids in low-vaccination states are getting infected at greater rates. Emergency Room visits and hospital admissions in the states with the lowest vaccination coverage were 3.4 and 3.7 times higher than in states with the highest vaccination rates. Children’s hospitals are at or near capacity and asking for federal assistance. For the most recent reporting period, infections among children account for 22.4 percent of reported COVID-19 cases. That’s 204,000 infected kids in a week.

Even though most parents favor mask-wearing in schools, nine states prohibit school districts from setting mask requirements: Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah. Over 1,000 schools have closed due to COVID-19 outbreaks since late July.

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Virus-Infested North Dakota Elects Legislator Who Died of COVID-19

North Dakota re-elected Governor Doug Burgum, who championed a Libertarian “light touch” coronavirus policy, even though the state’s COVID-19 rate leads the country. The state is so pro-coronavirus that it elected a state legislator who had already died of COVID-19.

More:

“A North Dakota state legislature candidate who died from Covid-19 appears to have won his election,” Harmeet Kaur, CNN

“A North Dakota Republican died of covid-19 in October. He still won his election.” Teo Armus, Washington Post

Updates:

“With North Dakota hospitals at 100% capacity, Burgum announces COVID-positive nurses can stay at work,” Jeremy Turley, Grand Forks Herald

“North Dakota nurses call for mask mandate, reject policy allowing COVID-19-positive workers to stay on job,” Nathaniel Weixel, The Hill

Related:

“Coronavirus surge is filling North Dakota’s hospitals,” James MacPherson, Associated Press

“Dr. Deborah Birx calls out North Dakota for poor mask use during pandemic,” Meredith Deliso, ABC News

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Back-to-School Special: COVID-19

Strained by managing on-line schooling and providing their own daytime childcare during this pandemic, many parents favor in-person schooling for their offspring. After all, the president says it’s safe, right?

The facts say otherwise. Last week, more than 61,000 American children caught the novel coronavirus, the highest weekly increase since the start of the pandemic. So far, 853,000 children in the U.S. have contracted the disease since the outbreak began, and a third of them needed ICU hospitalization. From February though July, at least 121 children have died. Long-term effects of COVID-19 infection in children are suspected.

More:

“More than 61,000 children got Covid-19 last week, a record,” Erika Edwards, NBC News

“Cases of Covid-19 in children on rise, with highest 1-week spike yet,” Sandee LaMotte, CNN

Related:

“I’m Scared to Death’: How Teachers Feel About COVID-19 School Safety,” Healthline

“Risk for Severe COVID-19 Illness Among Teachers and Adults Living With School-Aged Children,” Adam W. Gaffney, MD, MPH, David Himmelstein, MD, and Steffie Woolhandler, MD, MPH, Annals of Internal Medicine

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Trump Plans Superspreader Election Night Watch Party

After successfully infecting the Republican leadership at the Rose Garden Amy Barrett reveal party, Donald Trump is planning a November 3rd COVID-Fest at the now-empty hotel he somehow leases from the federal government:

“President Donald Trump has his eye on hosting an election night party at his own hotel in the nation’s capital.

Over the past several days, the campaign has pushed out fundraising emails in the president’s name offering donors the chance to enter a drawing ‘to join Team Trump at the Election Night Party in my favorite hotel,’ in Washington, suggesting he will use his luxury hotel as the backdrop for reacting to election results. The campaign has also spotlighted plans for the party in fundraising blasts from the president’s son Donald Trump. Jr.”

—“Trump eyes hosting election night party at his DC hotel,” Aamer Madhani, Associated Press

More:

“No Dancing, No Live Music, No Standing: What an Election Night Party at the Trump Hotel Might Look Like,”Andrew Beaujon, Washingtonian

UPDATE:

“Trump changes election night plans, cancels party at Trump International: report,” Celine Castronuovo, The Hill

Related:

“How Trump Became the Pro-Infection Candidate,” Dhruv Khullar, The New Yorker

“America Is About to Choose How Bad the Pandemic Will Get,” Ed Yong, The Atlantic

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The Haunted Mansion

The White House had a children’s Halloween party last weekend. That’s pretty frightening given the rate of COVID-19 infection at the White House. Thanks to Donald Trump’s ineptitude, the Executive Mansion is now haunted by the souls of 230,000 dead Americans. The Biden Transition Team better have a skilled exorcist on board.

More:

“Trumps celebrate Halloween at the White House,” Jean Lotus, UPI

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COVID-19: 200,000 Americans Are Dead.

200,000 Americans have died from COVID-19. So far. President Trump knew it would happen beforehand, lied about it, did nothing. He continues to lie about it and do nothing. At this rate, by the end of the year nearly 380,000 Americans will be dead from COVID-19.

In the global race for most Coronavirus deaths, the United States in on top, with more fatalities than any other country. Americans are not only sick and tired of winning, they’re dead from it.

More:

“200,000 Americans Dead From Coronavirus—That’s An Average Of 873 A Day Since It Started,” Carlie Porterfield, Forbes

“How many needless Covid-19 deaths were caused by delays in responding? Most of them.” Isaac Sebenius and James K. Sebenius, STAT

“200,000 dead as Trump vilifies science, prioritizes politics,” Jason Dearen, Associated Press

“Remember the 200,000 Americans who have died from covid-19 — and vote,” Washington Post 

Update:

“We Aren’t Nationally Mourning The 200,000 COVID-19 Victims Because If We Did It Would Be A Reckoning,” Amber Jamieson, BuzzFeed News

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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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