The Biden administration has launched COVID.gov, a website geared toward connecting Americans with more information about COVID-19 spread, prevention, and treatment in their communities.
On the front page of the site, you can enter the name of your county, and it will display the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 risk level in your community. That metric is based on hospital capacity in an area. The site also links you to more information about vaccinations, masking, and travel from the CDC. Some pages offer community-specific guidance, helping you find free N95 masks and vaccination sites near your location.
You’ll also find a link to COVIDTests.gov, a site that lets you order four free COVID-19 tests through the US government. (And remember, if you’ve already ordered four tests for your household, you can now order another round.)
COVID.gov also connects you with the Test to Treat locator, which allows high-risk people with COVID-19 to receive an antiviral pill — either Pzfizer’s Paxlovid or Merck’s Molnupiravi — from participating physicians and pharmacies to treat the virus. The initiative is powered by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response.
The launch is another signal of the Biden administration’s transition towards a new phase of pandemic response, where it aims to have COVID-19 be less disruptive to day-to-day lives. That shift comes as the United States heads into another wave of infections, funding for free testing dries up, and the administration struggles to get Congress to fund pandemic response efforts — all of which leaves the country less prepared to handle infectious disease outbreaks.
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