Free Rapid COVID-19 Tests Now Available for All US Households

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Starting September 25, all households in the United States and its territories – including Puerto Rico – will once again be able to place an order to receive four free rapid COVID-19 tests, this at a time when there is an increase in infections and hospitalizations due to the infectious disease.

The announcement was made this Wednesday by President Joe Biden’s administration, ensuring that home tests are capable of detecting the latest variants identified in the last year of the coronavirus. The government has allocated $600 million for a dozen manufacturers to produce the tests whose free sale price fluctuates between $10 and $15 for each one.

The product application process – which had been paused by the federal government last June – will be carried out through the COVIDtests.gov program, which has distributed more than 755 million tests directly to more than two-thirds of American homes and their territories. Of these, 310 million went to families in underserved communities.

Tests that are sent directly to postal or physical addresses are antigen diagnostics. There will be no shipping costs and no need to provide a credit card number.

Health authorities have stressed that testing and other protective measures – such as the use of masks and vaccination – are essential to stop the spread of COVID-19 infection. Precisely, in recent days a new vaccine formula against COVID-19 was approved that promises to be effective in reducing the risks of death and severe illness for those people who become infected with the new variants of the virus.

At the local level, the Secretary of the Department of Health, Carlos Mellado, has called for positive results from home tests to be reported through the agency’s official page https://bioportal.salud.pr.gov/covid-19/self-tests.

As part of the form, you will need to upload a photo of the proof to the system. Be sure to write your full name, the date the sample was taken, and the code provided on the test card, which will appear as soon as you access the page.

“The result you obtain in this test does not replace a test performed by a health professional or certified laboratory; All results must be confirmed with a health professional or duly certified laboratory. If your test is positive, you will be contacted by personnel associated with the COVID-19 tracking system,” Mellado said.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), hospitalizations due to COVID-19 in the United States increased by 7.7% in the last week, with 20,538 admissions to clinics recorded in the period from September 3 to 9. Deaths also increased by 4.5% in the same date line.

In Puerto Rico, reports from the Department of Health indicate that the positivity on the dates of September 3 to 9 was 19.15% and it is emphasized that “Puerto Rico is at a high level of community transmission.” The health region with the highest percentage of positivity was Ponce with 20.67%. On the other hand, the health region with the lowest percentage was Mayagüez with 17.01%.

Nasal congestion, cough, tiredness, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, and fever are the most common symptoms among sick people.

In the last month (from August 20 to September 20), 25,830 infections and 84 deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported on the island.