Free COVID-19 tests: Government to send tests again

The government is sending more COVID-19 tests to people who request them in advance of the busy holiday season that typically brings an uptick in coronavirus cases.

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The website covidtests.gov is live and is once again accepting orders for four free COVID tests. If you didn’t place an order in the fall, you can place two orders for a total of eight tests, CNBC reported.

September was the last time the government had announced the free tests.

Since then about 14.5 million households have ordered them before Monday’s launch, ABC News reported.

If you don’t get a test via the portal, at-home tests can be purchased at stores for about $11 out-of-pocket, The Associated Press reported. Insurance companies are not required to cover the cost of the tests.

Meanwhile, some tests from earlier shipments and that you have in your closest may appear to be expired, but several expiration dates have been expanded. To check to see if your tests are still valid despite what is printed on the box, you can visit, the Food and Drug Administration’s website and enter the name of the test to see when the new expiration date is.

Still, the group KFF, a health policy research organization, found that less than half of those asked were concerned about a COVID-19 surge this winter, CNBC reported.

But there has been an uptick in hospitalizations.

The week ending Nov. 11 found 16,200 people hospitalized with COVID, an increase of 8.6% when compared to the previous week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found, according to CNBC. That number is still lower than the same time last year, which had 24,000 hospitalizations.