Free COVID-19 tests are still available by mail, but the U.S. Postal Service says orders will be suspended after Friday.
Since Nov. 20, residents have been eligible to receive up to two orders of four at-home COVID-19 tests via the USPS, meaning each home could receive up to eight tests.
The offer is ending just as COVID-19 restrictions and recommendations from health officials have been significantly relaxed, but testing continues to be a central part of the recommendations made by state and federal officials.
In California, the state’s department of health now states newly infected people don’t need to isolate if they aren’t showing symptoms of COVID. They can also stop isolating if the illness starts to improve quickly.
The California Department of Public Health still recommends people test and, if they get a positive result, wear a mask when indoors with others. Those who have been infected can remove their masks if they have two sequential negative tests taken a day part.
“Ordering for free COVID-19 tests via this website will be suspended after Friday, March 8, 2024,” the message on the USPS site reads. “All orders placed on or before March 8 will be delivered.”
In January 2022, the White House launched a program to offer the free tests to every U.S. household via COVIDTests.gov. The tests have been offered periodically since then.
A spokesperson for the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response confirmed to CBS News that it would stop accepting the orders Friday but would continue to distribute the tests to long-term-care facilities, food banks, health centers and schools.
More than 1.8 billion free COVID-19 tests have been distributed through the website, the spokesperson told the news outlet. The spokesperson added that more free tests could still be distributed again later in the year.
This story originally appeared on LA Times
