Summer may hold another Omicron variant surge for the US, experts warn. And in light of that, the Biden administration is again sending free test kits through the mail to households that request them at https://covid.gov/tests, as reported by the Washington Post. This time, the number of tests has increased to eight (the two previous rounds permitted households to order four tests).
The tests will be mailed by the US Postal Service in two separate packages of four tests each, each package with its own tracking number. After you fill out the quick online form to order the tests, your confirmation page permits you to order more free tests if you did not get them in the two previous rounds. If you cannot use the Internet, call 1-800-232-0233 (TTY 1-888-720-7489) to get help in English, Spanish, and more than 150 other languages.
The website also contains important information on insurance reimbursement for any subsequent at-home test kits you may order (up to eight free per month), as well as a registry of more than 20,000 sites where you can get a no-cost antigen and PCR Covid-19 test, even if you are uninsured.
The White House announced yesterday that to date, 350 million free tests have been delivered to American homes, to US territories and overseas military bases. “As the highly transmissible subvariants of Omicron drive a rise in cases in parts of the country, free and accessible tests will help slow the spread of the virus,” read the Biden administration briefing.
The briefing also noted that Congress’s failure to provide more funding for Covid-19 response means that the administration will not be able to continue funding domestic testing manufacturing capacity, and access to free tests may come to a close in the future. Order yours now.
According to the Center for Disease Control’s COVID Data Tracker, the US is approaching 1 million deaths from the disease, at 997,468 as of May 18.