WASHINGTON: The US school must receive the first Covid-19 quick test provided by the federal government in about two weeks, a White House official said a Washington race to keep the classes open in the midst of an omicron surge that set a record.
New tests must be ordered through the state government, but the White House also provides laboratory capacity to support five million monthly PCR tests that can be booked by schools if their country does not help, officials said.
It must arrive in seven to 10 days.
The Biden government on Wednesday announced a new set of steps to make the class remain open, including doubling the Covid-19 test capacity at school with 10 million more tests, because the omicron variant spread quickly through the United States.
Covid-19 inpatient in the United States has increased by around 33% and deaths rose by around 40% from a week before, Rochelle Walensky, the head of the US center for controlling and prevention of disease (CDC), said on Wednesday.
The Biden government has urged countries to spend $ 10 billion in resources distributed to them for testing based on the Coronavirus law signed into law last year, although some have slowed the funds, officials said.
Education sources say several school districts in countries such as Pennsylvania, Texas and elsewhere have struggled to get access to tests, partly due to the differences in safety protocols, and supply constraints.
“We don’t want any country to block.
Period,” said the official, by adding administration will find other ways to provide resources to schools if they experience problems with their state government.
“We really tried hard to ensure that everyone knew all the resources available for them at this time,” the official said.
The US Department of Education last year provided a grant to the Florida school district which had state funds detained because the students mandated were wearing a mask in challenging the prohibition of the Republican Governor against the mandate.
The issue of school closure remains politicized and debated, but the White House said almost 96% of national schools held in-people this month, up from 46% of schools in January 2021.
The official will come from “special portions” of existing contracts, and capacity What is enough to be available is given the administrative contract now signing to get 500 million fast tests.