LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The federal government is now taking your requests for free, at-home COVID tests delivered straight to your door.
Starting Tuesday, Americans can sign up for rapid testing kits through the US postal service.
After a quick visit to COVIDtests.gov and a filling out a USPS form, you're set to go.
The website promises a delivery of one order for four rapid antigen tests, per US household. Shipments are expected to start in late January.
The rollout is a day ahead of the Biden Administration's schedule. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki describing it on Tuesday as "beta testing" adding, "we're going to launch it formally tomorrow morning."
And it seems Americans were eager to get an early start as, according to data that tracks government website traffic, hundreds of thousands of people already looked into ordering their tests by Tuesday afternoon.
A proactive practice that UAMS Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases Dr. Keyur Vyas supports.
"...having a test readily available to be able to check and see if it's positive can help you identify whether you may have the disease very early," Dr. Vyas said.
It's important to know that this is not focused on people who are currently sick. In that case, you should go get swabbed at a free testing site like UAMS, Baptist Health, or a county health unit.
The idea behind the federal program is to order the tests before you need them.
Dr. Vyas adding, "if you don't have any exposure or don't develop any symptoms, then certainly having them available in the future would also be helpful."
These tests come on top of Governor Asa Hutchinson's order of free COVID tests for the state that first started going out last week.
"We have ordered over 1.5 million for Arkansas, they will be delivered periodically, as the supply allows that to happen," the Governor said at his press briefing last week.
But as more people turn to at-home testing, public health officials are getting less information about who's infected.
"At-home tests mean that there are more people than what the numbers that the health department puts out each day," Dr. Vyas said.
This is why the Arkansas Department of Health urges you to report your positive results to their hotline.
And even amid record cases, Dr. Vyas is hopeful more testing availability will lead to lesser spread.
"It's good to have the availability, you know, after hours it may be that this is the easiest way to get a test," he said.
More information on free testing clinics and where to pick up in-state free COVID tests can be found on ADH's website.