The Biden Administration has reactivated a government website that will allow Americans to request free Covid-19 tests ahead of what is expected to be an uptick in coronavirus cases this winter.
According to a Dec. 15 White House fact sheet, each household can order four rapid, at-home Covid-19 tests at COVIDTests.gov. As a part of the White House’s Covid-19 Winter Preparedness Plan, the kits will be mailed directly to people for free.
The administration originally launched the site in January of this year as part of an effort to make millions of test kits available to citizens, but was forced to shut it down in September when Congress voted to stop funding the program.
“In the absence of Congress providing additional funding for the nation’s COVID-19 response, the Administration has acted with its limited existing funding to add more at-home COVID-19 tests to the nation’s stockpile and support this round of ordering ahead of continued increases in COVID-19 cases,” the White House said.
Orders for this latest round of testing kits will begin to ship starting the week of Dec. 19 and continue into the following weeks.
The White House also explained how the administration will make vaccinations and treatments more readily available, prepare medical personnel and their resources, and focus on protecting the highest-risk Americans.
