The Biden administration on Monday said it is offering another round of free at-home Covid tests to U.S. households ahead of the holiday season, when more people gather indoors and the virus typically spreads at higher levels.
Starting Monday, Americans can use COVIDtests.gov to request four free tests per household. Those who have not ordered any tests this fall can now place two orders for a total of eight tests, according to the website.
The administration in September allowed people to request an initial round of four free tests through the site, resuming a federal program that temporarily shut down during a political fight over Covid funding.
I keep forgetting Covid is still a issue in some places, especially red states.
I looked it up and in the United States there were about 16,000 hospitalizations from Covid-19 in November 2023, 90% of which were elderly. I guess this virus is pretty much gone. West Virginia and Hawaii are the only trouble spots for covid this month.
western Washington State checking in (so blue we’re edging towards ultramarine) - covid is making its rounds again now - my sister had it, my mother got it, and several colleagues at work are quarantining due to it. dunno about my colleagues but basically everyone I know is up to date on vaccines… for all the good it does…
tl;dr - you’re borderline imbecilic
Sewage studies show COVID is still an issue pretty much everywhere. People just don’t really care at this point. Hospitals aren’t full anymore because the most vulnerable have already died, been vaccinated, or now just avoid public places. So now we just get to roll the dice on long COVID and deal with lasting side effects every year or so.
(Recently got COVID here. I sing in multiple choirs, and COVID fucks up my singing voice for a while even after I recover. It’s such a pain in the ass.)
In Colorado I haven’t heard of anyone getting Covid in over a year. Now I know my group of friends and co-workers are all vaccinated so experience may vary, but it’s just not a thing in the Front Range. In the Ski Towns, that’s another story.
Yeah, obviously it’s a bigger issue in places with more population churn. Larger cities, big events, travel hubs, tourist destinations, etc.
It’s also not very potent for many people at this point. People probably just assume they have a cold (which is kind of to be expected as variants become less severe and more transmissible) and wouldn’t know it’s COVID without a test. After all, the nebulous category “common cold” already contains other coronaviruses IIRC (though I think the bulk are rhinoviruses).
People are likely still getting Covid, but they are not testing, so it’s not confirmed. The strains around now are not severe for most people, varying from a sniffle to a flu. For some it’s severe, but with a combination of vaccinations, previous infections and the death of the most vulnerable already, it’s less of a public health problem.
A lot of my friends are vaccinated against this new strain too. They’re still catching it. It’s just a super sneaky variant. I’m severely immunocompromised and in congenital heart failure so COVIDs never gotten to leave the forefront of my decision making. So fucking tired of it
If you don’t test, you won’t see it. 40-50% of cases are asymptomatic. So if one were vaccinated, and/or had already had the disease, conferring some immunity would likely make the symptoms less severe. Lower severity, decreased hospitalization, decreased death, that’s what we can reasonably expect, and are seeing.
My husband (vaccinated) caught it hard in early October. Lost his voice completely for three days and could barely eat due to his sore throat. He hasn’t stopped coughing since.
He’s middle aged (mid-40s) and otherwise healthy.
My mom (80) caught it last week after a trip to the east coast.
