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WASHINGTON, DC –  September 20, 2023 – On September 21^st, the Biden Administration announced that orders for free at-home COVID-19 test kits will resume on September 25^th. The free test kits have been previously purchased and are stored in our national stockpile. They are not due to expire until the end of this year. This action is in response to the increase in COVID cases this summer and a presumed rise in infections during the winter months. Offering free tests kits that encourages testing at home is an important public health tool to slow the spread of the virus.

Each household will be able to request 4 free test kits through the COVIDTests.gov portal. Shipments will begin on October 2^nd by the U.S. Postal Service. The COVID tests will be able to detect the recent variants. The free test kits are antigen tests. Free test kits had been offered during the COVID pandemic; however, the program was paused in May. The program had delivered more than 750 million free at-home test kits to households across the country upon request.

Antigen tests have a chance of having a false negative test result which means that the test may be negative for COVID when a person is really infected. Therefore, people are encouraged to repeat the test in 48 hours if they feel sick or have been exposed to someone who has a COVID infection.

The Biden administration has also authorized that $600 million be appropriated for the production of about 200 million at-home tests kits by 12 U.S. manufacturers. They will replenish the federal stockpile. Having a supply at-hand will keep the U.S. ready for any future COVID surges. The administration wants to prevent a recurrence of test shortages that had occurred during the pandemic, reduce its dependency on manufacturing tests overseas, and provide good jobs to Americans.

In addition to offering free at-home COVID-19 tests to households, the federal government distributed 500 million free tests to long-term care facilities, low-income senior housing, uninsured people, and communities with low resources.

Buncombe County residents can pick up free COVID-19 home test kits in the Buncombe County Health and Human Services Building at 40 Coxe Avenue, Asheville during regular business hours.

Dawn O’Connell, assistant secretary for preparedness and response at HHS, said, “Our focus is getting through the holidays and making sure folks can take a test if they are going to see Grandma for Thanksgiving.”

 

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Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour

 

RALEIGH, NC – September 27, 2023 – North Carolina can expand Medicaid because the Republican-dominated General Assembly recently agreed upon the 2023-24 state budget and passed it on September 22^nd. The House and Senate have been negotiating over the budget for months. A recent Senate version would legalize nontribal casinos. However, the House did not include this provision. Moving forward, the Republicans in the House and the Senate decided to keep casinos out of the budget two days before the vote. According to a statement by Governor Cooper, “While there are many problems with this budget, it fulfills my promise to enact Medicaid Expansion.” The Governor has decided to allow the bill to pass without his signature so it will become law 10 days later. The Republican-dominated General Assembly has avoided this issue for a decade until bringing it up last year. North Carolina becomes the 40^th state to enact Medicaid expansion.

A state Medicaid expansion (ME) bill was passed by the General Assembly and was signed by the Governor in March_. However, the bill was tied directly to agreeing upon the 2023-24 state budget. Medicaid expansion brings healthcare access to 6 hundred thousand under-resourced North Carolinians, including almost 17 thousand people from Buncombe County. Expanding Medicaid will bring 8 billion federal dollars annually to the state and almost 2 billion dollars to support behavioral health, public safety, and rural health care. If the ME program is begun this year, North Carolina will receive an almost 2 billion dollars incentive of federal funds. By delaying ME, the HHS estimates that 9 thousand North Carolinians a month are losing their Medicaid coverage who would otherwise be eligible for Medicaid expansion.

Kody Kinsley, the secretary for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, has estimated that the department may begin adding newly eligible people in December at the earliest.

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour

 

ASHEVILLE, NC –  September 27, 2023 – The COVID-19 metrics are on the CDC’s COVID Dashboard.

• For the week ending on September 9^th, hospital admissions levels are low in 94 of 100 counties in North Carolina, including Buncombe County, and almost 88% of the counties in the U.S. However, they have increased in North Carolina and Buncombe County from the previous week.
• For the week ending on September 16^th, between 2-4% of the deaths in North Carolina were due to COVID, the 3^rd lowest level of 6 groups.
• Emergency room visits for COVID-19 are low in North Carolina for the week ending on September 16^th. This represents about 2% of all ER visits, the 2^nd lowest of 5 levels and fewer than last week.

Wastewater monitoring can be used to provide early warning for COVID outbreaks. The Buncombe & Henderson counties wastewater data for the week ending on September 13^th is on the North Carolina COVID Dashboard.

• The number of viral gene copies in each water sample is at a red level representing the highest level of 5 groups, currently between the 80^th and 100^th percentile relative to the past level measured at the same site.
• The 15-day rate of change of the number of viral gene copies in each water sample is increasing from the previous week, between 10 and 99%, the middle group of the 3 groups for a positive rate of change.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services wants everyone to know that:

• COVID-19 can affect people differently. Some people have mild symptoms like a cold and others have more severe symptoms like a bad case of the flu. Some effects can be long-lasting.
• Older adults and immunocompromised people are at a higher risk of developing severe illness and being hospitalized.

The Department of Health and Human Services recommends:

• Stay up-to-date with COVID-19 vaccines
• For extra protection, wear an efficient medical grade mask
• People who are positive for COVID-19 or do not feel well should stay home
• People with any COVID symptoms should get tested
• If you test positive, your doctor may recommend medical treatment

If you get COVID, here’s the latest CDC guidelines:

• Isolate for 5 days provided the fever has resolved for at least 24 hours without taking any fever-reducing medicine. (Day 0 is the day that symptoms first appear. If there are no symptoms but a positive test, then day 0 is the day the test was positive.) Isolation means staying home and away from others.
• Wear a high-quality mask around others at home and in public for the next 5 days
• Masking can stop earlier with 2 negative antigen tests taken 48 hours apart

More and more Americans have developed some immunity to COVID-19 from immunizations and previous infection. New variants continue to infect people with the most at-risk groups more susceptible to severe illness.

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour