WORCESTER, MA – One of the state’s last pandemic-era physical care systems will end in March.
By March 30, the remaining 11 Stop the Spread COVID-19 sites will be closed in Massachusetts, marking the end of a flexible program that once had more than 40 sites statewide.
State officials cite a decrease in requests for PCR tests, the popular gold for coronavirus testing, and involve deep samples from the nostrils and waiting several hours for results. The state measured fewer than 1,000 tests consistent with the week in February for the first time since the program began in July 2020.
Home test kits are widely available and produce effects within minutes, considered less physically potent than PCR effects.
A year ago, the state shut down 30 of the 41 Stop the Spread sites due to a drop in demand. The remaining 11 sites this week were in Everett, Framingham, Lawrence, Lynn, New Bedford, Randolph, Revere, Springfield and Worcester. Boston also operates two loose test sites at City Hall and Hyde Park.
After the sites close on March 30, there will still be plenty of PCR testing options, though not all of them are free. Find places on the state Department of Public Health website. Under state law, fitness insurers cannot qualify deductibles. or co-pays for maximum COVID-19 treatments.
Even if other people still contract COVID-19, adding 3850 cases and 85 deaths last week in Massachusetts, the pandemic will end in May, at least from the government’s perspective. On May 11, President Joe Biden will end all COVID-19 emergencies. declarations, which means the government will avoid offering vaccines and check kits by mail, among other services.
The state administered about 4. 3 million tests in the only 3 years available from Stop the Spread.
Get more news straight to your inbox. Sign up for alerts and loose patch bulletins.