US resumes offering free at-home Covid tests

The US is offering free at-home Covid-19 tests again to help stop the virus from spreading during the winter months.

More people have been going to the hospital because of Covid in the past few weeks, according to information from the CDC.

The tests can find a new type of the virus, which has been found in a few US states.

Americans can ask for four quick and free antigen tests.

The government website for Covid tests started in January 2022, but it closed down before 2023 to save more supplies.

The government under President Biden gave away 755 million Covid-19 tests by sending them through the mail.

When the serious health problem was over in May, lots of insurance companies stopped paying for tests. This meant that people had to pay for tests themselves.

According to the CDC’s Covid-19 tracker, there were 20,538 people hospitalized from September 3rd to September 9th. This is about 8% more than the week before.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said that the test kits can be used until the end of 2023.

There will also be directions on how people can check if extended test expiration dates are valid, because the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that test kits may last longer than what the package says.

Last week, the Biden administration said it would give $600m (£491m) to 12 American companies that make Covid-19 tests.

The government thinks they will get around 200 million tests from those companies.