The federal government is again offering Americans free COVID-19 test kits through the mail, allowing for up to eight more tests to be ordered through the USPS. The move comes as COVID cases continue to rise and trend at the highest levels seen since November, driven by the BA.2 variant of omicron, and two other subvariants that appear to be even more infectious. The U.S. is averaging 95,813 cases a day, up 57% from two weeks ago, according to a New York Times tracker. The country is averaging 22,075 hospitalizations a day, up 24% from two weeks ago. The daily death toll has fallen below 400 to 301 on average, down 9% from two weeks ago. Cases are higher in nearly every state, but the Northeast and Midwest are being particularly hard hit with case reports in both regions now higher than they were at the peak of last summer’s delta surge. There are concerns that case numbers are even higher, as many people are now testing at home and the data is not being collected.
On a global basis, total cases are now above 522 million. Total deaths are above 6.26 million, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University, with the U.S. still leading the way with 82.6 million cases and 999,842 deaths.
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