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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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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Is The Post Office Really Broke?

The U.S. Postal Service is broke, right?

No.

John Nichols explains:

“At the behest of the Republican-controlled Congress of the Bush-Cheney era, the USPS has been forced since 2006 to pre-fund future retiree health benefits. As the American Postal Workers Union notes, ‘This mandate is the primary cause of the agency’s financial crisis. No other government agency or private company bears this burden, which costs the USPS approximately $5.5 billion annually.’”

–John Nichols, “The Post Office is Not Broke,” The Nation

USPS is legally obligated to serve every location in the United States at the same uniform rate. That requires the Post Office to hire so many workers that, with 574,000 full-time employees,  it is the second largest civilian employer in the nation.  That’s the size of the insurance pool USPS must pre-fund every year.

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Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

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