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One per residential address?
It doesn't make sense that a family of 6 living at one address can only get the same number of tests as a single person living alone (such as myself).
True, but ...
It's a quick way to get millions of test kits out there immediately, rather than having to wait for somebody to build a more complex ordering system that takes into account household size.
It might have been even quicker to forego any sort of ordering system and just deliver four test kits to every residential address in the country, the USPS is kind of set up for that, but, it's a start.
And I don't think anything would stop you from giving some part of your order to a larger household if you wish.
also school age kids
Will get tests from the schools and Baker announced tests for school age children and schools.
Not school-age
Students enrolled in public schools. Homeschooled and private school students are not included.
FWIW, there are 66,000 private school students in and 17,000 homeschool students in MA. There are 900,000 in public school. Public school enrollment counts kids in homebound and hospitals and whatnot as well, so it's probably close to 10% of school-age kids who aren't enrolled in public schools. Not insignificant.
Exactly. Keeping track of
Exactly. Keeping track of household size and sending out varying size packages would have created a much larger apparatus.
My advice to households has been to be smart about it. There's two tests in each one. If you have a few members of the house with Covid you should treat everyone as if they have Covid. So maybe don't use all the tests at once. I would start with the most high risk person and or the most active outside person and move on from there. If the active outdoor person and the 80 year old cancer survivor both come back negative that's good news. If one comes down positive then get the more at risk person professionally tested and on treatment
Probably just four tests total
The boxes you can buy in stores generally contain two actual tests -- I think what's being offered via USPS is four individual tests, not four sets of two.
The address
The address I think was key to quick verification. USPS website is connected to their database of all known addresses in the US. It was the fastest way to get verification (and prevent fraud).
I agree maybe people should have been mailed these, but there are a lot of addresses that no one lives at and there'd be these kits just sitting there un-used. This focuses on getting the kits to people who really want one and dedicate resources to that instead of a much larger production to do all addresses.
Another option
Another option is to get reimbursed by your insurance -
https://www.cms.gov/how-to-get-your-at-home-OTC-COVID-19-test-for-free
Up to 8 free tests a month
Read into how much of a nightmare
It’s going to be to get reimbursed. Insurers aren’t set up to process say a cvs receipt and were only given a 5 day notice.
I’m sure they’ll figure it out, but again, a day late and a dollar short. This should have happened in the fall.
From what I've gathered
The issue isn't cost. It's availability. The vast majority of people who want these tests can afford the $20-25, but good luck finding them.
That said, if someone can't afford $25, someone has to get tests to them.
Magoo sez
What with Magoo’s brood, Magoo gonna need a lot more tests then four. Magoo and Mrs. Magoo been busy. Magoo
Thanks Adam!
It was very easy to order these tests. Thanks for the link.
Thx for posting!
n/t
What amazed me
was that a website expected to have a lot of traffic its first day did not crash.
Someone's doing something right over there.
Probably helps that it piggybacked off an existing website
Looks like they implemented it as a $0.00 item you can order on the USPS website, just like Priority Mail boxes. :-) Good thinking.
Sometimes the easy solution
is the best.
As a software developer
I approve of not writing more software. It's terrible stuff. Best to avoid it if possible.
Biden made USPS so much more
Biden made USPS so much more efficient.