Letter to Joseph R. Biden, President of the United States - Rep. AOC Calls for Expansion of Residential Standards for At-Home Testing

Letter

Dear President Biden,

We thank you for your efforts in expanding testing capacity and increasing access to free testing by sending at-home COVID-19 test kits to households across the nation through the United States Postal Service (USPS). However, we write requesting your attention on a salient issue that has arisen in the distribution of the testing kits to multi-family households. Namely, families that reside outside of a traditional single-family housing unit are having trouble ordering testing kits because the online portal does not allow more than one order per address. We urge you to expand the residential standards set by this program to allow multi-family housing units to order the tests they need to keep their families safe.

Since rollout, we have received a large number of reports from constituents regarding their inability to request COVID-19 test kits as a result of not living in a single-family household: those who reside in dwellings such as basement apartments, renovated multi-family units, and multi-family residences. For those in apartment buildings, once these addresses are claimed on the USPS order portal, no other tests can be ordered to that address without going through the hotline. People living in basement apartments may not have their own distinct address, so the policy of one order per dwelling is preventing them from getting the tests they need. Those who live above a retail establishment are also having difficulty ordering kits.

Approaching a rollout process with the aim of equity and accessibility requires the acknowledgement of households residing outside of single-family units. Families who reside in basement apartments, renovated multi-family units, and multigenerational family households are often at the highest risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19. Families living in these nonsingle family dwellings are also least likely to be able to isolate in the chance of illness. Thus, their ability to obtain tests is imperative to keep themselves, their families, and their communities
safe. Our country can only be as safe from COVID as our most vulnerable communities are kept safe.

Given that the policy limiting one order of COVID-19 test kits per dwelling has fallen short of ensuring access and equity, we urge the Administration to expand the guidelines currently set in place to account for basement apartments, renovated multi-family units, and multigenerational family households. Specifically, we urge you to allow families to list the number of members in their household and an associated surname, so that families who live in basement units or multi-family residences can access the appropriate number of tests. Thank you for your attention to this matter, and we look forward to working with you to resolve it.

Sincerely,

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