Winter is here, and once again, warnings are going up about the spread of the covid-19 virus — along with the flu and RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus. To try to minimize the upsurge, the US government is restarting a program that it canceled on September 2nd, 2022, and is once again offering free home rapid antigen tests to each US household. This is the fourth round of free tests that’s been made available; according to the government website, orders will start shipping the week of December 19th.

As before, it’s extremely simple to put in your order. You will not need to submit a credit card or any other financial information.

And as before, if you have private health insurance, you can be reimbursed for up to eight tests per month; free tests are also available to Medicare and Medicaid recipients. You can check the US Department of Health and Human Services site for more info.