Biden to launch $650m coronavirus testing plan in schools and other group settings

Administration prepares comprehensive national testing strategy following passage of American Rescue Plan

Joe Biden’s administration is preparing to launch a comprehensive national coronavirus testing programme, beginning with an initial $650m investment in Covid-19 testing and screening in schools and at “underserved congregate settings” like homeless shelters, group homes and prisons.

The president discussed the plan during his national address on Thursday, hours after he put his signature on a $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan package funnelling billions of dollars into testing and vaccine strategy and distribution, along with direct payments and financial relief for millions of Americans one year into the public health crisis.

The initial effort from the US Department of Health and Human Services will “begin to bring more testing to teachers, staff, and students and serve as a bridge to the comprehensive testing investment in the American Rescue Plan that is critical to get the pandemic under control,” the White House said on Thursday ahead of the president’s remarks.

The administration “will immediately take steps to help schools implement regular screening testing to assist them in safely reopening classrooms, including through tests and test supplies as well as implementation assistance to make it easier for schools to adopt a testing programme.”

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Mr Biden’s announcement follow calls from public health officials for a wider virus surveillance system to bring the pandemic to an end, a critical tool as the administration pushes for schools to reopen for in-person instruction.

The American Rescue Plan – vital to the administration’s efforts to combat the pandemic – contains $130 billion to help schools pay for mitigation, staff and other accommodations to avoid spreading infections.

The president also announced on Thursday that he is instructing states to make all adults eligible for vaccines by 1 May, along with a federally supported website and 1-800 number to connect people with nearby vaccines.

The administration also is doubling the number of retail pharmacies that will be able to deliver vaccine shots, doubling federal vaccine centres through FEMA, and deploying a total of 6,000 active-duty US military services members to distribute vaccines.

He spoke of the “war-time effort to vaccinate the US population, with the goal of getting the nation closer to normal by July 4th, Independence Day.”