Free home COVID-19 tests, N95 masks to be available

U.S. President Joe Biden has announced that every household in the country is now eligible for free COVID-19 home test kits and every person will soon be able to get N95 masks for free, as well.

Each household can order the free COVID-19 tests currently from COVIDtests.gov and four tests will be mailed to individual’s homes. Tests are expected to ship within seven to 12 days of ordering. A hotline will also soon be available to order the test for those not tech savvy.

Though there is a current shortage with COVID-19 tests at retailers, a new program will also make it possible for those with insurance to purchase COVID-19 tests from retailers with their insurance with no copay.

Additionally, the Biden administration is making more than 400 million N95 masks free to the public beginning later this week. The free masks will be distributed to pharmacies and health centers that administer the COVID-19 vaccine. Each person will be eligible to receive three free masks initially.

Non-surgical N95 masks are considered to be the best option for mitigating the spread of COVID-19 as the mask protects both the wearer and those around the wearer unlike cloth masks, which only offer protection from those around a person wearing them.

Currently, 750 million N95 masks are stored at the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile and the Biden Administration has said that it plans to continue to make more masks available in the coming weeks as long as COVID-19 cases continue to rise.

“I know we all wish that we could finally be done with wearing masks, I get it,” Biden said in a statement. “But they’re a really important tool to stop the spread, especially of the highly transmittable Omicron variant. So, please, please wear the mask.”