NBC Chicago Updates Ordering Website Posts | Ordering

A authorities web site meant to offer data on ordering free COVID check kits from the United States Postal Service has a brand new message — once more.

The up to date message comes someday after the web site redirected to the USPS, and two days after the web page was laden with error messages.

As of Wednesday, Sept. 25, the web site COVIDtests.gov led customers to a message from the Administration for Strategic Preparedness & Response, a corporation a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services which oversees COVID testing.

“Coming soon!” the positioning mentioned. “Order your free COVID-19 tests at the end of September 2024.”

The message went on to say that “starting in late September,” each U.S. family could be eligible to order 4 free check kits via the positioning COVIDtests.gov.

The message additionally mentioned the federal government is at present making COVID-19 checks “available to uninsured individuals and underserved communities through existing outreach programs.”

“Please contact a HRSA-funded health center or ICATT location near you to learn how to access low- or no cost COVID-19 tests provided by the federal government,” the message added.

“Please come back in late September to order your free test kits,” the message concluded.

Tuesday, the web site COVIDtests.gov had led to a USPS website, although orders weren't obtainable to be positioned.

“Reopening,” the message on the site said Tuesday. “This program for ordering free at-home COVID-19 tests will restart in late September 2024.”

“Come back to place your order in late September 2024,” the message continued, saying that kits could be obtainable “while supplies last.”

The message additionally inspired residents to test the expiration dates of any present kits, because the shelf lifetime of many had been prolonged.

Monday, the COVIDtests.gov web site was down altogether.

Many who tried to entry the webpage obtained error messages. For some, a message later learn “Coming soon! Order your free COVID-19 Tests at the end of September 2024,” earlier than one other error code appeared.

The message left many questioning when the kits would formally open for ordering as fall and winter virus season approaches, and a brand new COVID variant raises questions.

The U.S. Health and Human Services company that oversees COVID testing had not introduced an actual date for ordering to start, lately saying solely that it might begin again up in “late September, 2024.”

The company didn't instantly reply to NBC Chicago's request for remark.

What to know concerning the new spherical of free at-home COVID checks

The checks will detect present virus strains and will be ordered forward of the vacation season when household and mates collect for celebrations, an HHS spokesperson mentioned in an earlier emailed assertion. Over-the-counter COVID-19 at-home checks sometimes value round $11, as of last year.

The program restart comes as the federal government is as soon as once more urging individuals to get an up to date COVID-19 booster, forward of the autumn and winter respiratory virus season. U.S. regulators lately accredited an up to date COVID-19 vaccine that's designed to fight the latest virus strains and, hopefully, forthcoming winter ones, too. Vaccine uptake is waning, nonetheless. Most Americans have some immunity from prior infections or vaccinations, however knowledge exhibits beneath 1 / 4 of U.S. adults took final fall's COVID-19 shot.

The Biden administration has given out 1.8 billion COVID-19 checks, together with half distributed to households by mail. It’s unclear what number of checks the feds have available.

Tens of billions of tax-payer {dollars} have been used to develop COVID-19 checks, vaccines and coverings.

Here's what else you need to know:

What are the signs?

• Cough
• Sore throat
• Runny nostril
• Sneezing
• Fatigue
• Headache
• Muscle aches
• Altered sense of odor
• Congestion
• Fever or chills
• Shortness of breath or problem respiration
• Nausea or vomiting
• Diarrhea

Recent reports have centered on particular gastrointestinal signs and COVID.

Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, a scientific advisor for the CDC and epidemiologist, mentioned “gastrointestinal issues including nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea” have been beforehand recognized as attainable signs of COVID-19.

“We do not have specific data about the incidence of GI symptoms with the current strains of the virus, but COVID-19 symptoms can certainly differ based on the variant and the individual,” Jetelina informed NBC Chicago in July.

Last 12 months, a Chicago-area physician mentioned she's seen shifts in the commonest signs her sufferers reported because the JN.1 variant rose to dominance.

Dr. Chantel Tinfang, a household medication doctor with Sengstacke Health Center at Provident Hospital of Cook County, famous on the time that lots of the circumstances she noticed reported much less of the fever, physique aches and chills, and introduced extra with sore throat, fatigue and coughing.

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

She urged consulting along with your physician in case your signs do not start to enhance exterior of the really useful isolation interval.

How lengthy does COVID final?

As for timing, signs can final for a number of days, however in some circumstances, even longer.

“Some people who have been infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 can experience long-term effects from their infection, known as Long COVID or Post-COVID Conditions (PCC),” based on the CDC.

Such signs can final for weeks and presumably even years.

Previous timing tips centered round 5 to 10 days, nonetheless.

What to do in the event you check constructive?

In March, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention up to date its COVID tips to reflect steering for different respiratory infections. Those who contracted COVID-19 not must avoid others for 5 days, the CDC mentioned, successfully nixing the five-day isolation suggestion.

People can return to work or common actions if their signs are delicate and enhancing and it has been a day since they've had a fever, however the CDC nonetheless recommends these with signs keep residence.

“The recommendations suggest returning to normal activities when, for at least 24 hours, symptoms are improving overall, and if a fever was present, it has been gone without use of a fever-reducing medication,” the steering states.

Once actions are resumed, the CDC nonetheless recommends “additional prevention strategies” for an extra 5 days, together with sporting a masks and maintaining distance from others.

The company is emphasizing that individuals ought to nonetheless attempt to stop infections within the first place, by getting vaccinated, washing their arms, and taking steps to usher in extra outside contemporary air.

As a part of the steering, the CDC suggests:

• Staying up to date with vaccination to guard individuals towards critical sickness, hospitalization, and dying. This contains flu, COVID-19, and RSV if eligible.
• Practicing good hygiene by overlaying coughs and sneezes, washing or sanitizing arms usually, and cleansing often touched surfaces.
• Taking steps for cleaner air, similar to bringing in additional contemporary exterior air, purifying indoor air, or gathering open air. 

The change comes at a time when COVID-19 is not the general public well being menace it as soon as was. It dropped from being the nation's third main explanation for dying early within the pandemic to tenth final 12 months.

Most individuals have a point of immunity to the coronavirus from previous vaccinations or from infections. And many individuals are usually not following the five-day isolation steering anyway, some consultants say.

What to learn about new XEC variant

According to Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in California, the XEC variant “appears to be the most likely one to get legs next.”

Topol reported the subvariant is a “recombinant of KS.1.1 and KP.3.3” variants and has been “showing up in many countries with a growth advantage.” He added, nonetheless, that it might take time to study the variant's full extent.

The variant's rise comes from a latest mutation, Topol informed the LA Times.

While KP.3, nicknamed the FLuQE variant, and its subvariant KP.3.1.1, or the deFLuQE variant, every had mutations of their very own, XEC took the mutation even additional, making it a “very pathogenic, very immune evasive variant.”

He famous that it could possibly be behind a latest wave that's sickening individuals who in any other case could not have contracted COVID.

The variant's prominence stays largely overseas, with XEC nonetheless not extensively detected sufficient to make it on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention variant proportions knowledge tracker.

According to the CDC estimates, the dominant variant within the U.S. continues to be KP.3.1.1, which represents greater than half of COVID circumstances at present.

Data reported over the weekend confirmed the best percentages of the variant seen in Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany and the UK.