A year, 10 months and eight days after the World Health Organization declared this COVID-19 Pandemic, Americans can order for free, testing at home by the government. From January 19th you can visit COVIDTests.gov and request tests sent to your home.
Currently, the website only has a landing page in English and Spanish. It is pointed out that the shipping costs are also covered.
The Biden administration is buying 1 billion home rapid tests to give free to US citizens. The hope is to make sure everyone has a test on hand when they need it. The White House states that 500 million of these tests will be available on January 19th. Initially, you can order four per residential address.
A phone line will be set up to allow those who do not have access to the site to place an order. The government says it is working with national and local organizations to help people in vulnerable and hard-hit communities secure testing.
One important thing to note: Tests are usually shipped within 7-12 days of ordering. This timeline won’t be incredibly useful for people who are showing symptoms of COVID-19 or who are in close contact with a positive case and don’t have one test at home practical.
Still, it’s worth stocking up on these free trials, especially considering how in demand they are. Even Twitter accounts known for helping people secure new gaming consoles are Provision of inventory alerts for COVID-19 testing these days.
Publisher’s Note: This article originally appeared on Engadget.
