by Sarah Aswell

Richard Baker/In Pictures/Getty Images

It’s been four and a half years since the COVID pandemic began, and yet the virus is still a significant part of our lives, especially for those of us with kids in school who are now dealing with the annual back-to-school germ swap. While the respiratory virus isn’t a huge, prominent part of most people’s day-to-day lives at this point (with the exception of those with long COVID), it can still greatly affect our schedules, our plans, and our health.

For those reasons, it’s still important to test for COVID when you or a family member gets sick — and at-home tests can be expensive, usually clocking in at around $10-$15.

Beginning in January 2022, the Biden Administration began offering packs of four free at-home rapid COVID-19 tests. And over the next year-and-a-half offered them to Americans three more times. Now, the program has been revived and the newest round of tests is available, just in time for cooler weather, school, and what’s historically been flu, cold, and COVID season.

You can order your tests from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services starting today. Every household is allowed to order up to four free tests and tests will ship free from the United States Postal Service beginning on September 30.

This latest round of tests comes with some extra information about test expiration dates, too, which have in many cases been extended past the date printed on the box. If you have tests in your house that are past their expiration dates, you can check their viability on the Food & Drug Administrations’s extended expiration date list. It’s possible that the tests you receive in the mail will be past their printed expiration dates, but still good to use.

The current COVID guidelines offered by the CDC recommend for those with COVID-19 or the flu to stay home and away from others until symptoms improve and fever has been down for 24 hours without medication. Further, it’s recommended that those with either virus take precautions for five days after getting sick in order to protect the community from spread. These precautions include staying home, avoiding crowds, wearing a well-fitting mask, and practicing proper hygiene.

Generally, they recommend that all Americans can help curb COVID and the flu by getting regular seasonal vaccinations, washing their hands, and paying attention to air circulations.

Everyone is encouraged to anonymously report the results of their COVID tests at MakeMyTestCount.org, whether it is negative or positive.