Free Covid tests are back: You can order up to four per household.Justin Sullivan/Getty
The coronavirus is, unfortunately, still here.
But here’s some help: As of Thursday, the federal government is, again, providing up to four free rapid tests per household. They’ll begin mailing them next week. The government will also pay for shipping the tests. You can order the tests to be delivered to your home online or by calling 1-800-232-0233.
One of the available tests is intended to be accessible for people who are blind or have low vision or manual dexterity, which you can order at a separate webpage or by calling the aforementioned number and following the prompts.
The Food and Drug Administration has said at-home rapid tests can detect the presence of Covid-19 up to 80 percent of the time someone is infected. New research, though, suggests that as peoples’ immunity has built up, it can take longer—up to four days after the onset of symptoms—to get a positive result from a rapid antigen test even if you do have the virus, as Time recently reported. Researchers say if you have symptoms, it’s best to continue testing—48 hours apart, up to three times—and not assume you’re virus-free based on one negative result soon after symptoms start.
The effort marks one of the federal government’s few remaining Covid-19 mitigation strategies, even as the virus continues to spread and mutate. The latest variant, dubbed KP.3.1.1, accounts for the majority of infections as of this month, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last month, the FDA approved new Covid-19 vaccines to target the latest variants, which are available at your local pharmacies.
The Department of Health and Human Services and the US Postal Service say they have distributed more than 900 million free tests since 2021.
