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U.S. govt to suspend free COVID-19 test orders next week

By Thomson Reuters Aug 29, 2022 | 10:43 AM

(Reuters) – Starting next week, Americans will not be able to order free at-home COVID tests from a website set up by the U.S. government due to limited supply.

The COVIDTests.gov website, set up amid the Omicron variant surge, helped U.S. households secure COVID tests at no cost.

President Joe Biden in January pledged to procure 1 billion free tests for Americans, including 500 million available through the website.

However, ordering through the program will be suspended on Sept. 2.

According to a notification on the website, the decision was made as “Congress hasn’t provided additional funding to replenish the nation’s stockpile of tests.”

(Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)