Free at-home COVID-19 test kits still available through Postal Service

As part of President Joe Biden’s plan to address the pandemic, the US Postal Service has delivered more than 270 million free COVID-19 rapid-at-home test kits to 68 million American households.

The test kit packages, with four tests per kit, have been shipped to American households across all states, Tribes and territories. More than 6 million COVID-19 test kit packages were delivered on Feb. 22, the highest single day volume delivered since shipping began at the end of January.

“There are few assignments the Postal Service has received that better exemplify our public service mission than the request of the Biden Administration to deliver America’s COVID-19 test kits,” Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer Louis DeJoy said.

The test kits are available to order at covidtests.gov, which was launched on Dec. 21, 2021, or by calling 1-800-232-0233 and (TTY 1-888-720-7489). 

Once an order is placed on the covidtests.gov website, the requestor receives an order confirmation email and additional status updates as the package is shipped. Requestors can track their package online and receive status updates via the Informed Delivery notification feature.

After the 2021 peak holiday season, the Postal Service negotiated with the postal unions to retain seasonal staff to handle the delivery of the influx of millions of test kits. Orders in Hawaii, Alaska, US Territories and APO/FPO/DPO addresses were sent via Priority Mail, with orders to the continental United States are sent through First Class Package Service.

The project involved strong interagency collaboration between the Postal Service, White House, Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Defense.