US imports of consumer goods, particularly home electronics, experienced a significant decline in the second quarter of 2023, following the end of the Covid-induced work-from-home electronics boom, while US manufacturing also slowed, indicating challenges in stimulating demand; however, claims that this decline in imports is solely due to re-shoring are false, as imports from US allies such as Mexico, Vietnam, and India have increased in tandem with China's declining exports to the US.
Americans are being advised not to discard unused at-home COVID-19 tests that may have passed their expiration dates, as the FDA has extended the expiration dates of many popular at-home test products amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in the US.
Free COVID-19 tests are still available at retail pharmacies and clinics, even though many at-home test kits have expired after the public health emergency ended on May 11.
The US Department of Health and Human Services is investing $600 million in domestic COVID-19 test manufacturers and reopening COVIDTests.gov to provide free tests to households across the country, improving preparedness and securing 200 million new tests for future use.
Americans can now order additional free Covid-19 tests from the federal government following the revival of the program with $600 million in funding.
The US government has restarted its free at-home Covid-19 testing service to combat the rising number of Covid hospitalizations and detect new strains, allowing individuals to request four free rapid antigen tests.
The government website COVIDtests.gov is back online, allowing American households to order free at-home COVID-19 tests which will be delivered by the United States Postal Service.
The Biden administration is allocating $600 million to produce new at-home COVID-19 tests and relaunching the website for Americans to order up to four free tests per household in order to prevent potential shortages during the upcoming colder months and rising coronavirus cases.
