Washington launches website for free at-home COVID-19 tests

Free government COVID test kits now available

Americans can request free COVID-19 test kits -- four per address -- at COVIDTESTS.GOV. The tests are free from the U.S. government and the first shipments are set to go out by the end of January.

WASHINGTON - The Washington state website to order free at-home COVID-19 tests is now live.

The Washington State Department of Health launched the website on Friday morning and residents can now order their tests, which will be shipped directly to their households.

People can order their tests at www.sayyescovidhometest.org.

This announcement comes on the week that the federal government launched its own test-ordering tool for households across the country.

Each household will be able to order one testing kit, which includes four to five tests, and the kits are expected to arrive within one to two weeks, said Lacy Fehrenbach, the state’s deputy secretary for COVID-19 response.

"We anticipate people’s initial need in the test kits will exceed our current supply pretty quickly, but our focus is sharing what we have right now," said Lacy Fehrenbach, MPH, CPH, Deputy Secretary for Prevention & Health. "We want to make sure the tests we have are in homes when our state needs testing the most – during this current surge."

The state predicts serving 350,000 households in Washington in the first week though more tests will be available over the next several weeks.

The state partnered with Amazon and CareEvolution to create the website, health officials had said in early January.

Those with limited internet access or who need a translator will be able to order at-home testing kits through the state’s COVID-19 hotline (1-800-525-0127).

"This is an important step toward making tests more widely available across the state," said Umair A. Shah, MD, MPH, Secretary of Health. "As we work with our federal partners, we look forward to seeing an increase in the number of tests flowing directly into people’s homes over the next several weeks."

Over the holiday weekend, more than a million tests were shipped to community groups and schools and as of Wednesday, 5 million more N95, KN95 and surgical masks had landed in the state, Shah said. Roughly 5 million more masks are also on the way.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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