Free COVID-19 test program to end this week

The free program that sent COVID-19 tests through the mail to your house is scheduled to end by Friday.

The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) this week will no longer be accepting orders to ship COVID-19 tests through the United States Postal Service, CBS News reported.

“ASPR has delivered over 1.8 billion free COVID-19 tests to the American people through COVIDTests.gov and direct distribution pathways and will continue distributing millions of tests per week to long-term care facilities, food banks, health centers, and schools,” an ASPR spokesperson said in a statement obtained by CBS News.

The program ends as COVID-19 cases across the country have seemed to wind down, CNN reported. That is after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month said that the country’s worst respiratory virus season may be over but COVID-19 cases could continue to rise.

“While the respiratory virus season is likely past its peak, it is definitely not over,” the agency said, according to CNN. “There is still a lot of respiratory virus activity, so it’s not time to let our guard down.”

This year, the program closed earlier than it did in 2023, when it went through the end of May, CBS News reported.