COMMUNITY

At-home COVID tests now available from USPS

U.S. residents can now order at-home COVID rapid tests through the U.S. Postal Service (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)

Every household in the U.S. can now get four rapid COVID tests mailed to them for free.

The U.S. government on Tuesday launched a website for people to order the tests through the U.S. Postal Service. Tests will ship at the end of January.

Ordering tests requires a name and street address the tests can be mailed to. An email address is optional to track shipping.

A Spanish-language order form is here.

There is no identification or health insurance required to get tests, and they are available to any U.S. household regardless of citizenship or immigration status.

The Biden administration is buying 1 billion at-home tests at a cost of about $4 billion, States Newsroom reported.

The tests are intended to help stem the recent surge in COVID cases and hospitalizations due to the more contagious omicron variant, though tests will arrive after that wave is expected to peak in Oregon.

(Salem Reporter-Rachel Alexander)