COVID-19 home test kits are pictured in a store window during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., January 19, 2022.
The Biden administration on Monday said it is offering another round of free at-home Covid tests to U.S. households ahead of the holiday season, when more people gather indoors and the virus typically spreads at higher levels.
Starting Monday, Americans can use COVIDtests.gov to request four free tests per household. Those who have not ordered any tests this fall can now place two orders for a total of eight tests, according to the website.
The administration in September allowed people to request an initial round of four free tests through the site, resuming a federal program that temporarily shut down during a political fight over Covid funding.
At-home tests are a critical tool to protect against the virus, especially now that lab PCR tests — the traditional method of detecting Covid — have become more expensive and less accessible since the government ended the public health emergency in May.
But demand for tests, along with Covid vaccines and treatments, has plummeted over the last year as cases and public concern about the virus dwindled from earlier in the pandemic.
darth_wasabi on November 20th, 2023 at 19:25 UTC »
what fucking blows my mind is how we went from global pandemic with learning to not leave your house when sick to already just 3 years later back to "no one to cover your shift come in anyway"
hatsune_aru on November 20th, 2023 at 16:40 UTC »
https://special.usps.com/testkits
the test kits can be ordered here.
Unkechaug on November 20th, 2023 at 15:30 UTC »
My family had appreciated these free test kits. Considering how expensive everything has gotten it’s nice to be able to be safe and test going into the holidays without needing to cough up the money for expensive kits for thanksgiving and Christmas.