
USPS will stop accepting orders for free COVID tests on March 8
CBSN
Two government-run efforts to distribute free COVID-19 tests and to offer free courses of Pfizer's Paxlovid antiviral are set to end Friday, as trends of the virus have largely slowed.
The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, or ASPR, will stop accepting orders to ship COVID-19 tests to all households through the U.S. Postal Service, an agency spokesperson confirmed, marking an end to this season's round of shipments.
"ASPR has delivered over 1.8 billion free COVID-19 tests to the American people through COVIDTests.gov and direct distribution pathways and will continue distributing millions of tests per week to long-term care facilities, food banks, health centers, and schools," the spokesperson said.

In the past year, over 135 million passengers traveled to the U.S. from other countries. To infectious disease experts, that represents 135 million chances for an outbreak to begin. To identify and stop the next potential pandemic, government disease detectives have been discreetly searching for viral pathogens in wastewater from airplanes. Experts are worried that these efforts may not be enough.