Covid-19 home test kits are pictured in a store window during the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, January 19, 2022. (REUTERS/Carlo Allegri)
WASHINGTON: US households can order four free at-home COVID-19 tests from the government website COVIDTests.gov beginning on Thursday as part of the Biden administration's efforts to tackle coronavirus infections over the winter.
The White House said it would use existing funding to pay for the tests since it has been unsuccessful so far in getting Congress to pass a bill to put more money toward the US COVID-19 response.
The free tests program was paused because officials wanted to make sure there were enough tests available in case there was a spike in COVID cases in the winter, White House COVID-19 response coordinator Ashish Jha said.
"This is the moment we were waiting for. We're seeing that increase now," Jha said in an interview with CNN.
COVID-19 cases have risen significantly over the past couple of weeks, and the United States is experiencing probably the worst flu season in a decade, he said. The good news, he added, was evidence that respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases have been coming down.
Earlier in the fall, hospitals had been filling up with children sickened by RSV, making for a respiratory disease triple threat.
The administration would start shipping orders of the latest round of free tests during the week of December 19.
Free tests will also be made available at as many as 500 major food banks, the White House said.
The Biden administration came under criticism a year ago for not ensuring enough tests were available in the midst of a surge of COVID-19 cases and deaths. The administration later procured hundreds of millions of tests to make available to the public at no cost.
Jha urged Americans to get their flu shots and updated COVID-19 boosters.
"If they don't then we are going to have some very tough weeks and very tough months ahead," Jha said.
