The federal government is now offering residents double the number of free COVID rapid antigen tests during its newest round of kit availability, according to an update by the United States Postal Service.
Whereas in previous rounds of test distributions residents could only claim up to four per household, residents can now request up to eight of the tests, which will be shipped for free to their residences.
According to the government, each order may contain eight rapid antigen COVID-19 tests. Those tests will come in two separate packages, with four test kits in each package, according to the USPS website.
Shipping on the packages will be free, and tracking numbers will be provided upon sign-up for the test kits. You can sign up via the USPS website here.
The White House said in a release announcing the new test offerings Tuesday morning that approximately 350 million free tests have been delivered across the country, in U.S. territories and at overseas military bases, and says many have been delivered by the USPS within 48 hours.
"COVID-19 testing is a critical tool to help mitigate the spread of the virus, which is why maintaining domestic testing capacity is an essential component of the President’s National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan," the release said.
The funding for this round of tests came from the American Rescue Plan, according to the release.
News
The new distribution of kits comes as COVID-19 cases once again climb in the United States, which has seen a new subvariant of omicron.
In the state of Illinois, more than 6,000 new cases per day are being reported, the highest average since early February.
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