Less than a week after approving more than $1 million to buy at-home COVID tests for residents, Phoenix considers spending another $10 million.
During Wednesday’s council meeting, City Manager Jeff Barton said Phoenix should have 23,000 at-home tests by the end of this week.
“The intent for us moving forward is that we do put together these 'combatting COVID' kits which would include gloves, masks, you know, they will include information about where our testing vans is going to be, where county resources are, what to do if you get COVID,” he said.
He said the kits could be distributed at vaccine events and through community partners, libraries and senior centers. Councilwoman Betty Guardado suggested the city work with schools to distribute at-home tests and N95 masks, which are considered more effective against the omicron variant.
“The demand is really high and the schools are really struggling,” she said.
Barton will present a more detailed plan for the council to vote on in the coming weeks. The money would come from federal stimulus funds as part of the American Rescue Plan Act.
Testing and vaccine events can be found on phoenix.gov. Phoenix uses federal funds to partner with Vincere Cancer Center and Premier Lab Solutions and others to provide vaccines and testing with no out-of-pocket costs.
