US offering more free COVID-19 tests ahead of holiday season
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Key Takeaways:
- U.S. households can order four to eight more free COVID-19 tests.
- COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths are on the rise.
Americans will have another opportunity to order free COVID-19 tests ahead of the holiday season.
The Biden administration announced Monday that each household in the United States can now order an additional four free at-home rapid test kits using the U.S. Postal Service website, which is linked below.
The administration relaunched the free COVID-19 test program in September, offering four tests per household. Households that did not order tests last time are now eligible to order eight free tests, according to HHS.
The administration also offered free tests during the holidays last year, using repurposed funds from the American Rescue Plan to pay for them.
HHS urged Americans not to throw away COVID-19 tests marked expired without checking the FDA’s website to see if the dates have been extended. That site is also linked below.
According to the CDC, there has been a more than 8% increase in hospital admissions for COVID-19 and a more than 9% increase in the proportion of deaths in the U.S. due to COVID-19 during the most recent week with available data, which is Nov. 5 to 11.
References:
- CDC. COVID data tracker. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home. Accessed Nov. 20, 2023.
- COVID.gov. Get free at-home COVID-19 tests this fall on COVIDTests.gov. https://www.covid.gov/tests. Accessed Nov. 20, 2023.
- FDA. At-home OTC COVID-19 diagnostic tests. https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-covid-19-and-medical-devices/home-otc-covid-19-diagnostic-tests#list. Updated Nov. 1, 2023. Accessed Nov. 20, 2023.
- USPS.com. Place your order for free at-home COVID-19 tests. https://special.usps.com/testkits. Accessed Nov. 20, 2023.
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COVID.gov. Get free at-home COVID-19 tests this fall on COVIDTests.gov. https://www.covid.gov/tests. Accessed Nov. 20, 2023.
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