US may distribute 500m free at-home COVID-19 tests: Official

*The United States administration officials say the the country’s Census Bureau has stated the Coronavirus pandemic has slowed population growth this year

Gbenga Kayode | ConsumerConnect

The United States (US) Government has reportedly said it will hand out about 500million free at-home COVID-19 tests to Amercians.

President Joe Biden’s administration is planning to give away free at-home COVID-19 tests to anyone that asks for one, NBC News report said.

COVID-19 in the US concept   Photo: Getty Images

Report indicates that a senior US administration official has said that the tests will be delivered to beneficiries by mail.

The administration plans to ship as many as 500million test kits, and it is reportedly setting up a Web site where consumers can submit requests in the American country.

The US Federal Government is also said to be in the process of setting up new testing centers around the country, majorly in response to the spread of the Omicron variant said to be highly transmissible.

Currently, 20,000 such centres are in operation, according to report.

Pandemic slows population growth to record low in US ─Census Bureau

In a related development, the US Census Bureau has reported that the country’s  population grew at the slowest rate on record this year, primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

COnsumerConnect gathered the report attributed the slow growth to decreased net international migration, decreased fertility, and increased mortality, partly due to disruptive COVID-19 pandemic in the developed economy.

Kristie Wilder, a demographer in the Population Division at Census Bureau, said: “Population growth has been slowing for years because of lower birth rates and decreasing net international migration, all while mortality rates are rising due to the aging of the nation’s population.

“Now, with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, this combination has resulted in a historically slow pace of growth.”

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the US population only grew by 444,464, or 0.13 percent, report stated.

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