CNN – The US government’s free at-home Covid-19 test program will be suspended Friday, according to the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response.
Since November, residential households in the US have been able to submit an order through Covidtests.gov for four individual rapid antigen tests. All orders placed on or before Friday will be fulfilled, according to ASPR, an operating division of the US Department of Health and Human Services.
“ASPR has delivered over 1.8 billion free COVID-19 tests to the American people through COVIDTests.gov and direct distribution pathways and will continue distributing millions of tests per week to long-term care facilities, food banks, health centers, and schools,” an ASPR spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday.
The decision to suspend the program’s sixth run comes amid falling Covid-19 cases as the nation’s respiratory virus season winds down, according to the agency.
Last month, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the worst of the season may be over but warned that Covid-19 levels remain elevated across the country.
“While the respiratory virus season is likely past its peak, it is definitely not over,” the agency said. “There is still a lot of respiratory virus activity, so it’s not time to let our guard down.”
Rates of Covid-19-related hospitalizations remain elevated but are decreasing in some parts of the country, CDC data shows. Still, thousands of people are being hospitalized with Covid-19 each week: more than 17,000 during the week ending February 24, according to the CDC.
An ASPR spokesperson says the agency reserves the right to reopen the testing program if needed.
