It is expected that President Joe Biden will announce plans to deploy 1,000 medical troops to hospitals, set up new federal testing sites and mail 500 million rapid COVID tests to homes, as England has already done. (In Britain you just call up the NHS and request one.)
The 500 million new tests will be made available next month, said an administration official and will be sent through the mail. The administration is still working to determine how many tests each household may request.
Does the US have the capacity to make this many tests — and so quickly? Yes, because of the Defense Production Act which was enacted 11 months ago. ‘We have the manufacturing capacity for a massive purchase like that starting in January,” a White House official said. “If there’s more we can do, we will do it.”
Despite the omicron surge, Biden isn’t expected to announce any new lockdowns or travel restrictions.