Covid-19 home test kits are pictured in a store window throughout the Covid-19 pandemic within the Manhattan borough of Recent York City, Jan. 19, 2022.
Carlo Allegri | Reuters
The Biden administration on Wednesday said it will resume offering free at-home Covid tests to American households Monday because the virus gains a stronger foothold nationwide.
Americans will soon have the opportunity to make use of COVIDtests.gov to request 4 free tests, the administration said in a release.
The federal government had offered free test kits through that website since January 2022, but the location stopped taking orders June 1 to conserve supplies of the tests.
The federal government is relaunching this system in time for the autumn and winter when the virus typically spreads at higher levels. Covid hospitalizations have already increased for eight straight weeks — an uptick primarily driven by newer strains of the virus.
However the Biden administration noted that the at-home tests set to be delivered will detect currently circulating Covid variants. The kits are intended to be used through the top of 2023 and will include instructions for a way people can confirm if a test’s expiration date has been prolonged, the administration added.
Testing is a critical tool for defense as Covid infections climb again. But lab PCR tests — the standard approach to detecting Covid — have grow to be costlier and fewer accessible for some Americans for the reason that U.S. government ended the general public health emergency in May.
The tip of that declaration also modified how private and non-private insurers cover at-home tests, potentially leaving some people unable to get those tests for free through their plans. But certain local health clinics and community sites still offer at-home tests to the general public without charge.
Also on Wednesday, the Biden administration said it will provide $600 million to strengthen manufacturing capability at 12 Covid test manufacturers across the country. The administration expects to secure about 200 million tests from those corporations.
“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,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in an announcement.