Biden announces new efforts to boost testing, deliver high-quality masks

WASHINGTON » President Joe Biden on Thursday announced plans to distribute free masks, purchase an additional 500 million coronavirus tests and deploy military medical teams to six more states as he updated the nation on his administration’s latest steps to address the spike in cases of the omicron variant.

Calling it a “patriotic duty” to wear a mask, Biden said his administration would share details next week on how it will make “high-quality” masks available free. He also previewed the government’s plans to buy and distribute twice as many free coronavirus tests as he pledged last month.

The president said the government is deploying military medical teams to help struggling hospitals in New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island, Michigan and New Mexico — six states he described as “hard-hit.”