The Site Is “Almost Ridiculously Simple to Use”
Early reviews of the Biden administration’s new COVID-19 testing site are in and overwhelmingly positive, despite the fact that the site is still only in its testing phase before it officially goes live tomorrow.
Below are some early reactions to President Biden’s latest effort to put an end to this pandemic by using every tool at our disposal:
AP: White House Soft-Launches Covid-19 Test Request Website. “White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the website was in ‘beta testing’ and operating at a ‘limited capacity’ ahead of its official launch. The website will officially launch mid-morning Wednesday, Psaki said… At points Tuesday more than 750,000 people were accessing the website at the same time, according to public government tracking data, but it was not immediately known how many orders were placed.” [AP, 1/18/22]
USA Today: At-Home Covid Test Website Launches Early. “‘We can’t guarantee there won’t be a bug or two,’ Psaki said, ‘but the best tech teams across the administration and the Postal Service are working hard to make this a success…’ The early launch of the test ordering website made up more than half of all government website visits Tuesday, according to analytics.usa.gov. In the last seven days, COVIDtests.gov got nearly 9 million pageviews as of 3 p.m. ET Tuesday, the analytics website shows.” [USA Today, 1/18/22]
CNN: Website To Order Free Covid-19 Tests Is Up And Running. “Though the official said the site was only operating at a limited capacity, it’s unclear how the initial phase of the site is limited. Once shipping information was entered online, the site instructed people that tests would begin shipping in ‘late January’ and the United States Postal Service, which is handling the deliveries, ‘will only send one set of 4 free at-home COVID-19 tests to valid residential addresses.’” [CNN, 1/18/22]
The New York Times: The Biden Administration’s New Website To Order At-Home Virus Tests Goes Live, A Day Early. “The Biden administration’s new website allowing people to order up to four free at-home coronavirus tests quietly went live on Tuesday — a day in advance of its formal launch — and demand already appears to be significant… Visitors to covidtests.gov can click through to a Postal Service webpage, where they can order up to four tests per household, free of charge. Orders will usually ship in 7 to 12 days, the website says.” [The New York Times, 1/18/22]
The Washington Post: Federal Website For Rapid Tests Goes Live A Day Early. “Some Americans are able to order free rapid coronavirus tests from a federal website beginning Tuesday, ahead of the site’s official launch Wednesday… Facing huge demand for quick testing amid the spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant, the government purchased 500 million rapid tests that will be available to every household and will limit the number of tests sent to each address to four tests.” [The Washington Post, 1/18/22]
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