You can now order up to four, free, at-home COVID-19 tests, per household, at covidtests.gov. The website, which has its formal launch Wednesday, January 19, is currently live and taking orders. Tests are limited to four per household, no matter the number of residents, and orders are expected to ship in seven to 12 days.
According to the website, free tests are rapid antigen, at-home tests, not PCR. Regardless of an individual’s symptoms or COVID-19 vaccination status, tests can be taken anywhere and will provide results within 30 minutes, with no lab drop-off required.
According to the Orange County Health Department, 24,639 people tested positive for COVID-19 for January 18, 2022 (which includes data from the holiday weekend). To date, Orange County has seen nearly 6,000 deaths.
As part of an effort by the Biden administration to make COVID-19 testing more widely available amidst the surge of the Omicron variant, administration officials said they are also working on setting up a hotline for people without internet access.
Additional efforts by the administration include:
- Requiring health insurance reimbursement for at-home COVID tests purchased after January 15
- Shipping more at-home tests to local retailers and pharmacies
- Setting up 20,000 free testing sites nationwide
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Visit covidtests.gov for more information.
For more health related content, visit the Orlando Health Content Hub.
