US offering free at-home COVID-19 tests again
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The Biden administration is offering free at-home COVID-19 tests again as part of a winter preparedness plan announced by the White House amid an increase in cases that officials linked to indoor gatherings.
Starting Thursday, any U.S. household can order four free at-home rapid tests from the U.S. Postal Service, which will begin shipping orders next week.
A senior administration official said the White House had to “repurpose” existing funds from the American Rescue Plan to restart the program, which was shuttered earlier this year.
“We’re able to reopen COVIDTests.gov for a limited round because, in the absence of congressional funding, we’ve acted within our limited resources to buy more at-home tests for our national stockpile,” the official said in a call with reporters.
According to the CDC, there were nearly 459,000 cases of COVID-19 reported in the U.S. during the week ending Dec. 7 — up from 306,000 cases the week before and the highest reported weekly total since Sept. 14.
“As expected, we’re seeing COVID cases rising in parts of the country following Thanksgiving, and while COVID isn’t the disruptive force it once was, we know that the virus will circulate more quickly and easily as folks gather indoors for the winter holiday season,” the official said.
References:
- CDC. COVID data tracker. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_weeklycases_select_00. Accessed Dec. 15, 2022.
- USPS.com. Place your order for free at-home COVID-19 tests. https://special.usps.com/testkits. Accessed Dec. 15, 2022.
- White House. Fact sheet: Biden administration announces COVID-19 winter preparedness plan. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/12/15/fact-sheet-biden-administration-announces-covid-19-winter-preparedness-plan/. Accessed Dec. 15, 2022.
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