President Joe Biden promised on Monday to address a COVID-19 test shortage as the Omicron variant expanded across the United States this holiday week, threatening to overrun hospitals and impede travel plans.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson is urging the White House to speed up the supply of rapid COVID-19 tests, telling President Joe Biden on Monday that testing availability has become a "serious difficulty" due to the Omicron-fueled rise of cases.
Biden meets governors as Omicron variant fuels surge
Hutchinson, a Republican who is presently the head of the National Governors Association, spoke with Biden at the start of a teleconference between governors and the White House COVID-19 response team and commended the federal government's work with governors on test manufacture.
Per POLITICO, he warned that a new initiative to acquire and distribute 500 million free rapid tests might conflict with state-level measures to expand supplies currently underway. In his opening remarks, Biden praised his administration's efforts to expand testing options and curb the spike, citing a planned 500 million-test buy as well as a separate project that would soon force private insurance to pay the cost of at-home tests.
Later, a White House official clarified that the federal government's test purchases would come from a mix of new manufacturers and extra production capacity to "minimize disruption of existing production capacity of these tests, supply to retail, or existing manufacturers' commitments states or organizations."
Biden recognized the shortages that impacted some states ahead of the holidays at his meeting with governors, referring to "long lines" seen throughout the country and admitting that he had not done enough to prepare for the increased demand.
Biden said his government is taking initiatives to leverage the Defense Production Act to enhance at-home test production and make it simpler to discover a local testing facility using the Google search engine.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that the recommended period of isolation for Americans with COVID-19 had been reduced to five days, down from ten days before.
Officials in the United States and states are braced for a surge of new cases following the Christmas break, with hospitalizations increasing as the New Year neared. Thousands of flights were postponed during the Christmas weekend due to an increase in virus cases among flight workers. As the more transmissible variant took root, additional plans were hampered by shortened trips and fewer testing opportunities.
US airlines canceled roughly 1,000 flights on Monday, the fourth day of cancellations in a row, denting travel-related companies. According to a Reuters count, the average number of new cases has increased by 55 percent in the previous seven days, reaching an average of nearly 205,000 new infections every day.
Biden makes 31st trip to Delaware
Meanwhile, Biden returned to Delaware for the 31st time since entering office on Monday, canceling his plans for a post-Christmas holiday in Puerto Rico due to the growing Omicron variant of COVID-19. Biden will spend his vacation with first wife, Jill Biden, and his new first dog Commander at Rehoboth Beach, as per NY Post.
The president spent Christmas with his extended family in the White House and had planned to visit Puerto Rico for New Year's Eve, a departure from a family custom of spending the holiday in the US Virgin Islands. Biden frequently spends the holidays in St. Croix or on Water Island, off the coast of St. Thomas, where his brother, Jim Biden, has a home.
Although the vast majority of Americans have been vaccinated, the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has thrown the country back into crisis, with record-high new infections in New York City, Washington, DC, and other sections of the country.
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