PRECEDENTED TIMES

U.S. Will Again Offer Free COVID-19 Tests Through the Mail Starting Monday

The relaunched program to mail patients at-home test kits comes as weekly COVID hospitalizations hit a six-month high.

The Biden administration announced on Wednesday that it is relaunching a program allowing American households to order free COVID-19 tests and earmarking $600 million to boost test production. Beginning Sept. 25, patients can go to covidtests.gov to request up to four free tests, which will be delivered by mail. The site has been shut down since June, a month after Biden ended the public health emergency. The new tests are intended for use through the end of 2023, and will include instructions on how to verify extended expiration dates, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement. A dozen domestic manufacturers will be awarded the funding to produce 200 million over-the-counter tests to replenish the national stockpile and prevent possible shortages as temperatures drop and cases rise. The move comes amid a recent surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations; ABC News reported this week that weekly hospitalizations had hit 20,000 for the first time since March.