COVID cases are expected to surge this upcoming winter as people spend more time indoors for the typically cooler holiday season.
To combat it, the Biden administration is offering a new round of free at-home tests starting on Monday.
The tests come as New Mexico starts to see an uptick in cases and hospitalizations for the past eight weeks.
Starting on September 25, households can order up to four tests at COVIDTests.gov to prepare for possible shortages of testing supplies. They will arrive at doorsteps for free via the U.S. Postal Service.
In tandem with restarting the dormant website after its closure from funding issues last summer, $600 million will be set aside to produce new at-home COVID-19 tests as they become more difficult to find.
“There are no magic bullets for COVID,” Emergency physician Dr. Mario Ramirez said. He’s the acting director at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Pandemics and Emerging Threats.
“Vaccines are a critical part of a layered response for everybody. But that includes getting tested if you feel sick, and then going to see a doctor and get a prescription for one of the antivirals.”
In the meantime, the CDC is recommending all Americans 6 months of age and older get the latest round of updated vaccines that target new virus variants such as BA.2.86 or XBB.1.5.
At-home COVID tests do expire, though health officials have extended the expiration dates on certain brands after learning they are still effective at detecting the virus well after the printed expiration date.
