Government Boosts Program , to Offer Households Additional , Free COVID Tests.<br />ABC reports that the government will offer households <br />an additional four free COVID-19 tests ahead of the <br />approaching holiday season and a potential rise in cases.<br />The offer, available at covidtests.gov, <br />is one of the last remaining ways for people <br />in the U.S. to obtain free at-home rapid tests. .<br />Last spring, the end of the public health <br />emergency also ended insurance companies' <br />requirement to provide eight tests per month. .<br />Based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and <br />Prevention, health officials have anticipated a similar <br />number of hospitalizations in 2023 as there were last year.<br />In 2022, hospitalizations peaked <br />at almost 45,000 per week. .<br />In September, the government relaunched <br />its test ordering site, offering <br />four tests for every household. .<br />The government has now offered an <br />additional four tests, bringing the total number <br />of at-home tests to eight per household.<br />The Administration for Strategic Preparedness <br />and Response (ASPR) says that about 14.5 million <br />households have ordered tests since the site <br />relaunched, equalling 58 million free tests distributed. .<br />Health officials have said that the tests are <br />meant to help people prepare for gatherings, <br />particularly with those more vulnerable to COVID.<br />We're going to see families gather <br />with older loved ones and younger <br />loved ones and it's important that <br />they are able to protect their loved <br />ones from COVID as we head <br />into the winter months, Dawn O'Connell, Head of ASPR, via ABC.<br />We're going to see families gather <br />with older loved ones and younger <br />loved ones and it's important that <br />they are able to protect their loved <br />ones from COVID as we head <br />into the winter months, Dawn O'Connell, Head of ASPR, via ABC
