ST. PETERSBURG, Florida – Nearly one month after the existence of the easily transmitted Omicron variant was officially reported to the World Health Organization, retail sales in the home health testing category are rising quickly across the U.S., the shopping intelligence company Catalina said in a news release.
For the week ending Dec. 18, sales of COVID-19 testing kits have shot up by 225% compared to six weeks ago, and by 71% from the week ending Dec. 11, according to the news release.
While COVID-19 test kits did not exist before April, the home health testing category was up 370% for the week ending Dec. 18 versus the same period two years ago, as the pandemic continued to spread, according to the news release.
With scientists continuing to make the case for face masks helping to stop the spread of COVID-19 and the Delta and Omicron variants, face mask sales have risen by 20% over the past six weeks. However, sales of face masks for the week ending Dec. 18 were down 25% from the same period a year ago, as COVID-related restrictions have eased in business and social settings.