Feds bring back free at-home COVID testing


Starting Monday, free at-home COVID tests are once again available from the federal government, as the current surge in infections over the winter continues.

“Starting September 25, every American household can again order up to four more free COVID-19 rapid tests delivered directly to their home,” the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on its website. “

They will arrive at everyone’s doorstep via the US Postal Service. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, tests can be ordered from COVIDTests.gov.

HHS said twelve manufacturers in seven states are producing 200 million over-the-counter tests to increase the government stockpile and meet public demand. The funding comes from $600 million the Biden administration approved last week aimed at preventing a testing shortage during an expected surge in COVID cases over the winter.

Experts say that while the emergency phase of the pandemic officially ended in May, the novel coronavirus did not care and its continued evolution means COVID will continue to spread.

“We know, if past is prologue, this will lead to higher levels of transmission and spread, and cases will increase in the fall and winter,” said HHS Assistant Secretary Don O’Connell. “Anticipating that this will be true again, or something similar, we want to make sure the American people have these tools.”

O’Connell said the website will take orders through the holidays and may stay open longer depending on the number of cases. This is the fifth time that free at-home testing has been offered.

Meanwhile, expiration dates for many trials have been extended by a year, O’Connell and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said.

The novel coronavirus was declared a pandemic in March 2020 and has killed nearly 7 million people worldwide, according to World Health Organization data, more than one million of them in the US, while the virus has since declined. has become fatal, but it can still cause long Covid as well as cause severe illness in some vulnerable populations.

with news wire services

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