The Biden administration is again making some free COVID-19 tests available to all American households as it unveils its contingency plans for potential COVID surges this winter, the Associated Press reported. COVID cases have shown a marked increase after the Thanksgiving holiday, and further increases are projected from indoor gathering and travel around Christmas and New Year’s. The administration is also encouraging states to make another push to persuade people to keep up with boosters, which experts say are the best protection against severe disease given the current variants that are in circulation. U.S. known cases of COVID are rising, along with hospitalizations, fatalities and test positivity. The daily average for new cases stood at 65,576 on Wednesday, according to a New York Times tracker, up 44% from two weeks ago. The average for hospitalizations was up 18% at 38,724 while the number of deaths was up 71% to 451. Test positivity has climbed 23% to 12%. Globally, the confirmed case tally rose above 651.3 million on Thursday, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins, while the death toll is above 6.65 million with the U.S leading the world with 99.7 million cases and 1,086,199 fatalities.
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