testing

COVID-19 testing clinics around the country are closing, and federal funding for free clinical testing is drying up. But wastewater surveillance could step in to play a crucial role in keeping track of where the virus is and just how much is really circulating out there. In this episode, host Bonnie Petrie takes us to a wastewater treatment plant in Converse, Texas and talks to scientists trying to build a surveillance and sequencing program in South Texas.

In many places in Texas, staffing shortages are forcing already burnt out teachers to cover for sick coworkers. The job was tough before the pandemic, but in the last two years, teachers have been spread thin. The workload is pushing educators to leave the profession, and forcing school districts to do what they can to retain them.

The Biden administration announced Friday that Americans can begin ordering free at-home COVID-19 tests starting January 19th. Orders can be placed using a website, COVIDTests.gov.

Across the state, people are waiting hours in line to get tested and seeing delayed results as cities and counties deal with a testing shortage.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is opening six COVID-19 testing sites in Texas counties with high positivity rates and growing hospitalizations. Governor Greg Abbot requested support from the Biden administration last week.

"We must expand the availability of COVID-19 testing and our hospital capacity now," a statement from the Texas Restaurant Association says.

Local elected leaders are urging local residents to keep their guard up against COVID-19 during holiday gatherings this Christmas and New Year's.

The U.S. government will buy a half-billion at-home COVID test kits and mail them to people who want them, with deliveries beginning in January.

Among his new steps to fight COVID surges this winter: requiring private health insurers to reimburse people for at-home tests. It also calls for more people to get vaccines and boosters.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune.Athletics officials at Texas universities spent months planning for a fall football season during a…