Starting Monday, U.S. households can order four free COVID-19 home tests through COVIDTests.gov or directly from this U.S. Postal Service site set up for the orders. The Postal Service will begin sending the tests next Monday, Oct. 2. They can also be ordered by telephone through a government hotline, 1-800-232-0233 or TTY 1-888-720-7489.
In addition to this program, the administration is still providing free and low-cost tests to uninsured people and underserved communities through HRSA health centers, Test to Treat sites, or Increasing Community Access to Testing sites.
The Biden administration announced the resumption of the free test program last week, as COVID-19 cases have been on the rise. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s data for September shows that hospitalizations for the disease have surpassed 20,000 for the first time since March, and attributes 2.7% of all deaths in the U.S. the week of Sept. 10-16 to COVID-19. That’s a 12.5% increase from the week before.
The tests will detect the new strains of the virus now circulating, according to the Food and Drug Administration. The USPS notes that some of the tests it’s sending may have “expired” dates on the box, but that these tests are still valid, per the FDA. If you have tests that have expired dates, check them against the FDA’s full list of extended expiration dates to determine if they’re still usable.
