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In a bid to help the nation move forward, White house unveils its Covid preparedness plan

WION Web Team
New DelhiUpdated: Mar 02, 2022, 10:56 PM IST

A file photo of White House. Photograph:(Reuters)

Story highlights

The plan further aims to give schools and businesses the tools they need to prevent economic and educational shutdowns. This is being done so that the students can remain safe in school and workers can be safe at work. Also, this will help the economy to grow

Top US officials on Wednesday laid out a plan to move the nation to a new stage of the pandemic. The new plan focuses on four goals, to help the nation move forward safely. This includes protection against COVID, preparing for new variants, preventing shutdowns and continuing to vaccinate the world. 

The White House claimed, "This plan lays out the road map to help us fight Covid-19 in the future as we move America from crisis to a time when Covid-19 does not disrupt our daily lives and is something we prevent, protect against and treat."

“America must maintain the tools — vaccines, boosters, treatments, tests and masks — to protect against Covid-19 and dramatically decrease the risk of the most severe outcomes. We must be prepared to respond to a new variant quickly and keep our schools and businesses open," the plan read. 

The plan further aims to give schools and businesses the tools they need to prevent economic and educational shutdowns. This is being done so that the students can remain safe in school and workers can be safe at work. Also, this will help the economy to grow. 

"The path forward in the fight against COVID-19 is clear: schools, workers, and workplaces have resources and guidance to prevent shutdowns," said the White House. 

Meanwhile, reports state that nearly half of the 500 million free Covid tests made available to the public recently by the Biden administration remain unclaimed. COVIDtests.Gov had received over 45 million orders on the first day of the White House test giveaway in January. Now, the officials say that less than 100,000 orders a day are being witnessed for the packages of four free rapid tests per household, which are being delivered by the US Postal Service. 

The White House views the programme as a step towards a deeper testing infrastructure, which will accommodate the demand surges and remain on standby when cases wane.  

(With inputs from agencies)