Ordering website posts updated message – NBC Chicago

A government website that was supposed to provide information on ordering free COVID test kits from the United States Postal Service has a new message – again.

The updated message comes one day after the website was redirected to the USPS and two days after the page was filled with error messages.

As of Wednesday, September 25, users of the COVIDtests.gov website were directed to a message from the Administration for Strategic Preparedness & Response, an organization within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that oversees COVID testing.

“Coming soon!” the website said. “Order your free COVID-19 tests by the end of September 2024.”

The message added that “beginning in late September,” every U.S. household will be eligible to order four free test kits through the COVIDtests.gov website.

The message also stated that the government is currently “making COVID-19 testing available to uninsured individuals and underserved communities through existing assistance programs.”

“Please contact an HRSA-funded health center or ICATT site near you to learn how to obtain low-cost or free COVID-19 testing provided by the federal government,” the message continued.

“Please come back at the end of September to order your free test kits,” the message concluded.

On Tuesday, the COVIDtests.gov website redirected to a USPS site, but orders could not be placed there.

“Reopening,” the message on the website said Tuesday. “This program to order free at-home COVID-19 tests will resume in late September 2024.”

“Please check back at the end of September 2024 to place your order,” the message continued, adding that the kits would be available “while supplies last.”

The message also urged citizens to check the expiration date of all current kits, as the shelf life of many kits has been extended.

On Monday, the COVIDtests.gov website was completely unavailable.

Many who tried to access the website received error messages. For some, the message later read “Coming soon! Order your free COVID-19 tests in late September 2024” before another error code appeared.

The news left many wondering when the kits would be officially released for order, as the fall and winter virus season approaches and a new COVID variant raises questions.

The U.S. Health and Human Services Administration, which is responsible for COVID testing, had not yet announced an exact date for when orders would begin, recently stating only that testing would resume “in late September 2024.”

The agency did not immediately respond to NBC Chicago's request for comment.

What you should know about the new round of free COVID home tests

The tests will detect current strains of the virus and can be ordered ahead of the holiday season when family and friends gather for festivities, an HHS spokesperson said in a previously emailed statement. Over-the-counter COVID-19 home tests have typically cost about $11 since last year.

The program's restart comes as the government is again urging people to get an up-to-date COVID-19 booster shot ahead of the fall and winter respiratory virus seasons. U.S. regulators recently approved an updated COVID-19 vaccine designed to combat recent strains of the virus and hopefully upcoming winter strains as well. But vaccine willingness is waning. Most Americans have some immunity from previous infection or vaccination, but data shows that fewer than a quarter of U.S. adults received the COVID-19 shot last fall.

The Biden administration has distributed 1.8 billion COVID-19 tests, half of which have been distributed to households by mail. It is unclear how many tests the government has on hand.

Tens of billions of taxpayers’ money have been spent on developing tests, vaccines and treatments for Covid-19.

Here’s what else you should know:

What are the symptoms?

• Cough
• Sore throat
• Runny nose
• Sneeze
• fatigue
• Headache
• Muscle pain
• Altered sense of smell
• traffic jam
• Fever or chills
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Nausea or vomiting
• Diarrhea

Recent reports have focused on specific gastrointestinal symptoms and COVID.

Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, CDC scientific advisor and epidemiologist, said that “gastrointestinal problems including nausea, vomiting and diarrhea” had previously been identified as possible symptoms of COVID-19.

“We don't have specific data on the frequency of gastrointestinal symptoms in the current strains of the virus, but COVID-19 symptoms can certainly vary depending on the variant and the individual,” Jetelina told NBC Chicago in July.

Last year, a Chicago-area doctor said she noticed changes in the most common symptoms her patients reported when the JN.1 variant became dominant.

Dr. Chantel Tinfang, a family medicine physician at Provident Hospital's Sengstacke Health Center in Cook County, noted at the time that many of the cases she treated were less likely to involve fever, body aches and chills and more likely to involve sore throat, fatigue and cough.

“We still see some patients who experience loss of appetite, loss of taste or smell. So it kind of depends,” she said. “One patient was just very, very tired. She couldn't really do much. And then you know … it's different. It's not just coughing and shortness of breath. We still see that, though.”

She recommends seeing your doctor if your symptoms do not improve after the recommended isolation period.

How long does COVID last?

As for duration, symptoms can last for several days, but in some cases even longer.

“Some people infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 may experience long-term effects from their infection, called long-COVID or post-COVID conditions (PCC),” the CDC said in a statement.

Such symptoms can last for weeks and possibly even years.

However, previous timescales were around five to ten days.

What to do if the test result is positive?

In March, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its COVID guidelines to align them with those for other respiratory infections. Those infected with COVID-19 no longer need to stay away from others for five days, the CDC said, effectively removing the recommendation for five days of isolation.

If symptoms are mild and improving, and it has been one day since a fever occurred, people can return to work or normal activities. However, the CDC still recommends that people with symptoms stay home.

“The recommendations suggest returning to normal activities when symptoms have improved overall for at least 24 hours and, if fever was present, it has resolved without the use of fever-reducing medication,” the guide says.

Once activities resume, the CDC recommends “additional prevention strategies” for five more days, including wearing a mask and maintaining distance from others.

The agency stresses that people should still try to prevent infections in the first place by getting vaccinated, washing their hands and taking measures to get more fresh air outdoors.

As part of the guidelines, the CDC suggests:

• Remain current vaccination protection to protect people from serious illness, hospitalization, and death. This includes flu, COVID-19, and RSV, if you are eligible.
• Practice good hygiene For example, by covering your mouth when coughing or sneezing, washing or disinfecting your hands frequently, and cleaning frequently touched surfaces.
• Measures for cleaner airfor example by supplying more fresh outside air, cleaning the indoor air or gathering outdoors.

The change comes at a time when COVID-19 no longer poses a threat to public health. At the start of the pandemic, the disease was the third leading cause of death in the country, and last year it was ranked tenth.

Most people have some immunity to the coronavirus due to previous vaccinations or infections. And many people are not adhering to the five-day isolation rule anyway, some experts say.

What you should know about the new XEC variant

According to Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in California, the XEC variant appears to be “the one that will take hold next.”

At this point, the XEC variant seems to be the most likely to gain a foothold next. Its current status is well tracked by @Mike_Honey_ 's Threadhttps://t.co/4AnLa3MXfz

— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) 15 September 2024

Topol reported that the subvariant was a “recombinant of the KS.1.1 and KP.3.3 variants” and had “emerged in many countries with growth advantage.” However, he added that it may take some time before the full extent of the variant is known.

The rise in the variant is due to a recent mutation, Topol told the LA Times.

While KP.3 (the FLuQE variant) and its subvariant KP.3.1.1 (the deFLuQE variant) each had their own mutations, XEC took the mutation a step further and made it a “highly pathogenic, immune system-evading variant.”

He pointed out that this could be the reason for a recent wave in which people are becoming ill who might not otherwise have been infected with COVID.

The variant remains largely circulating overseas, and XEC is not yet widespread enough to be included in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's variant share data tracker.

According to CDC estimates, KP.3.1.1 remains the predominant variant in the United States, currently responsible for more than half of all COVID cases.

Data reported over the weekend showed that the highest percentages of the variant were in Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany and the UK.