The government is expanding its program through which other people can request free Covid-19 tests (with the exception of four additional tests per family) in anticipation of a possible surge in the holiday season.
The U. S. Postal Service The U. S. Department of Health announced Monday that people can now request an additional package containing four tests based on residential address, expanding the program it introduced earlier this fall.
In September, the USPS announced the resumption of the program after pauses to conserve supply, but limited orders to a four-pack of tests according to guidance.
If you haven’t placed an order since the program restarted at the end of September, you can order two packs of 4 tests.
Testing can be ordered at COVIDTests. gov or by calling 1-800-232-0233 from 8 a. m. m. to Eastern Time.
The expansion of the flexible testing program comes as national Covid-19 numbers rise and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urges people to take action against the spread of the disease during the holidays. Over the past week, test positivity has risen to as high as 0. 1 percent, Covid-19 hospitalizations rose to 8. 6% and deaths rose to 9. 6%, according to the CDC, though deaths and hospitalizations remain well below levels in early 2022.
Some government-submitted tests may mean they’ve expired, but the Food and Drug Administration has extended those dates, so they can most likely be used. A full list of extended expiration dates can be found here.
The government introduced its flexible at-home testing program in January 2022, but it was suspended from September to December over fears that tests would run out before the imaginable accumulated over the holidays. The flexible program was then back in operation from December to June 2023, when it was again suspended “to maintain the remaining supply. “
How serious are respiratory viruses like Covid-19, RSV, and flu this year?The CDC predicts that the winter respiratory illness season “will most likely see a similar overall number of hospitalizations as last year,” which will be higher than what was seen before The U. S. is unlikely to experience “very gigantic waves of severe illness or hospitalization,” according to the Center for COVID-19 Scenario Modeling, due to “widespread population-level protective immunity. “