The federal government is mailing tens of millions of rapid tests requested through the new Postal Service website.
Two weeks after Americans submitted orders to request free at-home COVID-19 tests, the tests have begun arriving in mailboxes.
On Jan. 18, President Joe Biden’s administration launched a government website where the public can place an order, free of charge, for four tests per household. The United States Postal Service stated that orders would typically take 7-12 days to ship.
“The United States Postal Service is proud to fulfill its mission of service to the nation by delivering COVID test kits as part of this important public health initiative of the Biden Administration,” Postmaster General and CEO Louis DeJoy said in a statement last week.
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According to a report by the New York Times, the federal government is mailing tens of millions of rapid tests requested through the new Postal Service website. The report states that an estimated 60 million households have ordered the tests so far, according to the White House.
The White House estimates the cost of purchasing and distributing the first 500 million tests at about $4 billion. That will be paid for with money from the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill Biden signed into law in March.
The Biden administration also launched a call line (1-800-232-0233 and, for teletypewriters, 1-888-720-7489) to help those unable to access the website to place orders and support the nation’s hardest-hit and highest-risk communities in requesting tests.
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You can still order your rapid COVID tests here.
Have you requested and received your tests yet? Let us know about your experience at [email protected].
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Araceli Cruz is a Multimedia Producer for Copper Courier. Her stories have been published in The Guardian, Teen Vogue, Refinery29, Mic, The Cut, Zora, The Village Voice, Rolling Stone, and others.
