Each household in the U.S. can now order COVID-19 rapid tests for free from the government, and all you have to do is visit a website.
The White House says it’s handing out half a billion rapid tests as part of its COVID-19 strategy, and it hopes the tests will help tackle a surge in cases caused by the highly contagious Omicron variant.
The government promised last week that it would begin handing out a bunch of rapid antigen tests, and the website launched this week amid a rush of excitement.
You can visit COVIDtests.gov to order a test and have it delivered through the mail. All you have to do is submit your name, mailing address and email so you can get shipping status updates.
According to the site, tests will usually ship within 7-12 days, so you may even receive your tests by the end of the month if you order this week.
More than 1 million users flooded onto the site and triggered a few glitches on Tuesday evening, according to a federal traffic-monitoring website. Some people living in apartment buildings reported having trouble with their orders, since the limit per household was not taking multi-unit dwellings into account, the New York Times reports.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a briefing on Tuesday that the site was still in its “beta phase” ahead of the official launch on Wednesday, according to NBC News.
The White House is releasing half of its promised 1 billion tests right now for free, according to a press release. However, it also stressed that “there are many other options for Americans to get tested,” including over 20,000 free testing sites across the nation.
In order to deliver the first batch of kits to households across the country, CNN reports that the administration is spending $4 billion, and each household is entitled to four rapid COVID-19 tests.
According to NPR, the administration is also setting up a phone hotline to make orders accessible to those without access to computers or high-speed internet.
This article’s cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.
