(Reuters) – Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc is limiting sales of at-home COVID-19 tests to four per customer due to a surge in demand as infections rise, CNBC reported on Tuesday.
There has been an “unprecedented increase in demand” for rapid at-home COVID-19 tests since Thanksgiving at Walgreens, CNBC reported, citing a company spokesperson. The report added the company was working with suppliers to meet demand.
The report comes as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus spreads across United States with lightning speed, dashing hopes for a more normal holiday season, resurrecting restrictions and stretching the country’s testing infrastructure ahead of holiday travel and gatherings.
Omicron now accounts for 73% of U.S. coronavirus infections, according to the sequencing data for the week ended Saturday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday.
Walgreens did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
(Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
