• These free at-home COVID-19 tests can help you identify if you have COVID-19 or not.

UNITED STATES - With new variants of COVID-19 such as omicron spreading quickly, it is important to know if you have COVID-19 or not. Going out to get an at-home test can be difficult and pricey. The good news is that the federal government is now providing households with free at-home COVID-19 testing kits.

Upon ordering, each household will obtain four individual rapid antigen COVID-19 tests. Antigen tests will provide results within 30 minutes compared to PCR tests which can take days to get results back. For information on the different types of COVID-19 tests, go to the CDC’s website.

The tests are ordered though the COVIDtests.gov website. To order, you provide your name and address, then your test will be mailed by the US Postal Service.

For those who need assistance with the website, they may call this number: 1.800.232.0233.

Only four tests are available per residential address. Shipping will begin the week of January 24. Tests will typically ship within 7-12 days of ordering. If someone would like get updates on their specific order, they should provide email in addition to their name and address when they put in their order.