🤒 Kiss some free COVID tests goodbye

It's Monday, Boston.

🌳 Happy Arbor Week! We’ve rounded up a list of nature-themed things to do below to celebrate trees and everything green in between. Plus, you'll get to test your state tree knowledge.

👀 What’s on tap today:

• Blue Line night work

• Spiked drink alert

• Living the sweet life

Up first...

HEALTHCARE

The end of a free COVID test era

You can kiss free at-home COVID-19 tests goodbye. Kind of. Three of the state’s biggest health insurers will no longer cover at-home COVID-19 tests starting next month.

Here’s what you need to know (and how you can still get your hands on some):

🗓️ The change goes into effect May 12, the day after the COVID-19 public health emergency ends. And the end of the emergency means the end of health insurers being required to cover eight rapid antigen tests per member per month.

💵 Companies could technically still cover the cost of these tests if they want to. But the state’s big three health insurers — Blue Cross Blue Shield, Tufts Health Plan, and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care — will not. Instead, they’ll only cover the tests if your doctor orders them, a decision that will impact around 4 million people in Mass. That said, folks on Medicaid programs, including MassHealth, will have their tests covered through Sept. 30, 2024.

😬 And while Boston-area COVID wastewater numbers are the lowest they’ve been in a year, experts aren’t loving this decision. Julia Raifman, an assistant professor at BU’s School of Public Health, told WBUR that she’s concerned tests will become unaffordable for too many (a two-pack kit is around $24), possibly pushing someone to forgo testing and unknowingly spread the virus. Plus, reduced access to at-home tests could delay someone’s ability to get proper treatment.

🛍️ So the key is to stock up now. If you have health insurance, you’re still eligible to get 16 at-home tests between now and May 11 (if you haven’t ordered your April batch yet). And you can still order four free tests via the White House’s testing program (I reordered more yesterday without any issues). Plus, keep an eye out on local clinics, libraries, and community centers, as they may still dole out free tests when they have them.

🧐 And double check the expiration date of your current at-home tests. The FDA has frequently updated the shelf life and expiration dates of popular at-home antigen tests. You can see if yours still have some juice in them here.

👃 Lastly, capitalize on the remaining free testing sites while they’re still here. The Boston Public Health Commission is still offering several free walk-in COVID-19 testing sites throughout the city regardless of insurance or immigration status. And even if you’re not a Boston resident, you can technically still get a test.

TOGETHER WITH THE HANDLE BAR & CAPO

Want to spin & din with B-Side?

We’ve teamed up with The Handle Bar and Capo to put together an amazing evening of Spinning and Dinner in Southie. The spin class will take place on May 8 starting at 5:30 p.m. at The Handle Bar South Boston, and then we'll walk over to Capo for dinner. The best part? The ride will celebrate Maternal Mental Health, and a portion of the event’s proceeds will be donated to NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness. You can buy tickets here (Tickets are $50, dinner included).

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

🚇 There’s been a slight change, Blue Line riders. The weeknight shutdowns slated for this week (April 24-27) and next week (May 1-4) will now start at 8 p.m. instead of 7 p.m. Shuttle buses will replace Blue Line service between Government Center and Wonderland Stations (Note: Shuttle buses will not serve Bowdoin station). MBTA crews will be working to alleviate current slow zones on the line and ensuring that that it can handle more customer capacity during the two-month closure of the Sumner Tunnel this summer.

🍹 Stay alert for spiked drinks. Boston Police issued a new warning on Friday, reminding folks to be alert for spiked drinks and urge anyone who thinks they could have been drugged to report it. They’re specifically talking about colorless, odorless, and tasteless drugs like Rohypnol (roofies), as well as GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyric acid) or ketamine. Last year, Boston saw a massive increase in drink-spiking reports in 2022, with the police department reporting over 100 incidents involving contaminated or “roofied” drinks.

📝 Harvard students blast school’s response to swatting incident. 45 Black student groups and campus organizations issued a letter last week condemning Harvard's response to a recent swatting incident that ended with four black students being removed from their dorm at gunpoint. The 911 call that triggered the incident ended up being a hoax. The letter asks Harvard leadership for a thorough investigation of the incident, mental health responses to incidents of racial trauma, a university-wide town hall on the incident, and more.

🗑️ Boston is expanding its food waste collection program. Mayor Wu announced the city’s food waste curbside collection program will increase its current capacity from 10,000 households to 30,000 due to high interest. Since the program’s inception last August, the city has collected over 800 tons of curbside waste at no cost to residents, which has been used to make nutrient-rich soil and clean energy. If you're interested in participating, you can sign up here. You just have to be a Boston resident and live in a building with six units or fewer. And if you live in a big building, you can drop off compost bins here.

THINGS TO DO

Tree festivities

🌸 Build a spring wreath with Project Paulie and Speak for the Trees.

🚲 Get a bike check-up and a free seedling packet in the Seaport.

📝 Hear PoeTREE, tree-themed poetry readings at the Arnold Arboretum.

🌳 Celebrate Arbor Week with events every day with the city of Cambridge.

🌱 Plant, read, and learn about trees all weekend long at Mount Auburn Cemetery.

POP QUIZ

🌲 What's the state tree?

ONE LAST THING

Living the sweet life

If it's been your lifelong dream to live in an ice cream shop, now’s your chance.

The owners of Sunday’s Ice Cream in Rockport, Mass. are selling their little slice of heaven for $1.495 million. The property features the 40-year-old ice cream parlor on the first floor and an updated one bed, one-and-a-half bath apartment on the second.

The pink-doored shop can hold 32 flavors in the cases on either side of the registers, with an additional 12 behind the counter. Plus it features views out on Rockport Harbor.

Talk about a WFH dream set up.

🍦 Thanks for reading! Real question: Does the ice cream come with the house?

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