Massachusetts municipalities and meals banks will collectively obtain 5 million at-home COVID-19 speedy assessments to distribute to Bay Staters this fall, the Baker administration introduced Wednesday.
State authorities will steer 3.5 million assessments to cities and cities, which can then have the ability to make the assessments out there to residents, and meals banks may even achieve entry to 1.5 million assessments supposed for the susceptible populations they serve.
Cities and cities may also search private protecting gear akin to KN95 and surgical masks from the state, Baker administration officers mentioned. Municipalities can request PPE and assessments by means of Sept. 16, and the Baker administration expects shipments to reach “earlier than mid-October,” officers mentioned. The dimensions of allocations shall be based mostly on native populations.
Whereas public life has largely rebounded from the pandemic with most Massachusetts residents vaccinated in opposition to the virus, COVID-19 impacts proceed to linger. The Division of Public Well being final week reported a mean of 862 newly confirmed circumstances per day and a seven-day common of 593 Bay Staters hospitalized for the virus.
In every of the previous two years, circumstances and hospitalizations started to rise considerably within the fall earlier than peaking in early winter.
“Testing is one crucial software for managing COVID-19, fairly than COVID managing us, and we stay dedicated to making sure that every one Massachusetts residents have entry to free assessments,” Well being and Human Companies Secretary Marylou Sudders mentioned in an announcement. “Taking an at-home check is a part of the steps that people can take — together with staying updated on vaccines, staying house when sick, and sporting masks as wanted — to guard themselves and scale back the unfold of COVID-19.”