Free government COVID testing kits: How to get them as the U.S. restarts supply

The Biden administration is again providing free government COVID testing kits at-home to American households for the third time, as the virus has recently spread more widely across the country. In a press release on Wednesday, September 20, the government announced that starting from Monday, September 25, Americans can request four free tests through COVIDtests.gov.

As per TOI, the tests are free, and from the week of October 2, 2023, all orders will ship for free. It was also stated that the exams can be taken anywhere, including at home, and in 30 minutes' time, the results will be generated. As per CNN, Xavier Becerra, the secretary of health and human services, said that:

"We will once again begin our program to provide Americans with an opportunity to request tests."

These free COVID tests will be delivered across the nation by the US Postal Service. As per CNET, the White House has invested $600 million in these new at-home tests, that covers funding for 12 manufacturing companies that make the tests.

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Government COVID testing kits are available just in time as the fall and winter season kicks off

According to CNN, more than 755 million free Government COVID testing kits have been distributed by the US government since January 2022 to those who requested them through Covidtests.gov. Moreover, free COVID-19 test orders have also been accepted by the USPS.

The federal government had been giving away these testing kits through the same website since January 2022, although they had to pause in May 2023, to maintain supplies. This happened after the COVID-19 public health emergency ended. In addition, several insurance companies stopped covering the cost of tests after the emergency ended, forcing consumers to pay for it themselves.

The government is now resuming the programme, since the number of Covid hospitalizations has risen since the last eight consecutive weeks, with the newer virus strains being the main cause of the rise. According to the CDC's Covid-19 tracker, there were 20,538 hospitalisations between September 3 and September 9, which marked an increase of nearly 8% from the prior week.

To order these free Government COVID testing kits at home, interested individuals can go to COVIDtests.gov. The consumers will next be prompted to submit their contact details and shipping address. They can also call at 1-800-232-0233 (TTY 1-888-720-7489) for help of any kind.

CNN further reported that Becerra, addressing these provisions for the government COVID testing kits, said in a statement:

“The Biden-Harris Administration, in partnership with domestic manufacturers, has made great strides in addressing vulnerabilities in the U.S. supply chain by reducing our reliance on overseas manufacturing. These critical investments will strengthen our nation’s production levels of domestic at-home COVID-19 rapid tests and help mitigate the spread of the virus.”

The Biden administration also stated that these testing kits will detect the current Covid variants as well.

As per CBS news, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) previously provided recommendations suggesting that shelf life of these government COVID testing kits is longer than the original packaging implies. Therefore, there will also be instructions on how individuals can verify extended test expiration dates. Additionally, they are also designed for usage through the end of 2023.

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As one may already know, a positive at-home test result indicates that the virus has been detected and that the user almost certainly has Covid-19. According to the official recommendations, a negative at-home test result indicates that the test did not detect the virus and that the user may be at a lesser risk of transmitting Covid-19 to others.