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
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
Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and lengTrump-Throttled Post Office Disenfranchises American Troops. Again.th.
“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
At a House Oversight Committee meeting on Monday, Rep. Katie Porter (D, CA-45) asked Postmaster General Louis DeJoy what it costs to mail a postcard:
“‘I don’t know,’ he said.
When a surprised Porter shot back, ‘you don’t know the cost to mail a postcard,’ DeJoy laughed and confirmed, ‘I don’t.’ As Porter continued to ask some pricing questions, DeJoy admitted, ‘I know very little about postage stamps.’ He also said he doesn’t know the starting rate for USPS priority mail, and he couldn’t estimate how many people voted by mail in the last presidential election.”
— “Postmaster general admits he doesn’t know what it costs to mail a postcard,” Brendan Morrow, The Week
Someone please tell Mr. DeJoy that postcards mail for 35 cents.
More:
“Katie Porter Reveals Just How Little Louis DeJoy Knows About the Mail,” Abigail Weinberg, Mother Jones
Help your friends who’ll be away from home or have health concerns to vote by mail by sending them reminder postcards (sample text for a North Carolina voter living in DC is provided above). Do it real soon, because someone is delaying the mail.
What should the front of the postcard look like? Maybe something like this:
Everyone from Benjamin Franklin to the Mickey Mouse Club has realized the importance of prompt mail delivery in America. Everyone except recently-appointed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, that is. Listen up, Louis.
Above: 1979 song by Larry Groce and the Disneyland Children’s Sing-Along Chorus
It’s not email or political pressure to maintain inefficient low-volume post offices that’s put the U.S. Postal Service in a deep financial hole. In 2006, Congress “reformed” the Postal Service by requiring it to prepay all retirement costs for current employees, something no other agency or business has to do. This costs the USPO $5.5 billion a year and is responsible for most of the agency’s losses. “Congress created the problems, and it can fix them by taking away the requirement that no other government agency or business has to face,” says Rural Letter Carriers Association President Jeanette P. Dwyer.
More:
— “Amid Capitol Turmoil, Postal Crisis Drags On,” Ron Nixon,New York Times
Snail Mail surveillance is lots older than PRISM, but it’s now computerized through the Mail Isolation Control and Tracking program. Postal Service computers photograph all the 160 billion envelopes processed in the USA each year. Law enforcement agents don’t need a judge’s approval to request this information.
More:
“U.S. Postal Service Logging All Mail for Law Enforcement,” Ron Nixon, New York Times
“USPS Procedures: Mail Cover Requests,” Postal Inspection Service via NYT
“The Postal Service is losing money and needs to make changes. The problem is that Congress refuses to let it raise more money, refuses to let it spend less money, and refuses to let it cut service.”
— “The Post Office is Failing, and It’s Congress’s Fault,” Kevin Drum, Mother Jones
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