One Million Reasons to Continue to Stay Diligent in the Face of COVID-19

Our nation now marks a sad time as we recognize the grim reality of the one-millionth American life lost to COVID-19. While many of us are keen to move beyond COVID-19, this milestone serves as a powerful reminder of our collective struggles these past two years — as well as a warning that living with this virus is far from over, and we must respond accordingly.

One million: we reflect on how many lives that is and how many families and communities are still suffering to this day. In a world where large statistics around bad news are commonplace, it’s too easy to become numb to just how catastrophic of a reality this grim milestone is. Each American deserves to be remembered, and their families and communities need the support of those around them. Equally chilling is  the knowledge that without the heroic work of frontline healthcare workers and access to available testing and treatment, that 1 million could easily have been much worse.

Part of honoring the deaths of those 1 million no longer with us means doing the hard work of reflecting as a country on what we could have done differently — and what we must do going forward.

From the front lines of COVID testing and treatment to serving more than 11 million Americans in communities across the nation, we’ve seen the impact of effective, no-cost testing on both personal peace of mind and public health. As cases once again rise, we can learn from the select counties and states that have implemented effective infrastructure to scale COVID-19 community services as the pandemic has evolved. Nomi Health will continue to answer any call for testing and treatment support, just as we have done since the very beginning of the pandemic in early 2020. We will continue to share learnings based on our work helping power the best ranking COVID-19 state responses nationwide. We continue to support healthcare workers who continue to do battle every day through efforts like our partnership with Tava Health.

To mark this grim reality, we call on Congress to extend critical funding for HRSA’s uninsured program. These funds will ensure that the populations most at-risk to develop COVID have access to quality, no-cost testing, allowing our nation to catch infections early and direct patients to available treatments. The ability to get ahead of the next COVID wave — by funding HRSA’s uninsured program — will help mitigate future deaths as the U.S. moves into an endemic posture.

Together with local, state and federal governments, we can put safeguards in place to offer the strongest possible path forward toward a much brighter future. We can ensure more Americans have access to the testing and treatment that keep us healthy. To honor the lives of each of the 1 million Americans who are no longer with us, we must do more now as numbers once again rise.

We join all Americans in remembrance, today and always.