No more free COVID-19 tests as of Friday, federal government says – cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio The governments program making free at-home COVID-19 tests available to all Americans ends Friday, federal health officials have announced.

Households across the country have been able to order four free rapid antigen tests through COVID.gov. since November. All orders placed on or before Friday will be fulfilled, according to the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The move announced Tuesday is another sign that the pandemic is moving away from emergency status, although COVID-19 related hospitalizations and deaths continue to mount.

Recently, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention dropped its five-day COVID-19 isolation guidelines.

Under the new guidance, people with mild COVID-19 could stop isolating if they havent had a fever for at least 24 hours without medication, and their symptoms are improving.

The new isolation guidelines for COVID-19 are in line with the guidance for other respiratory illnesses, such as flu.

Both vaccines for flu and COVID-19 will be updated this fall at about the same time, CDC director Mandy Cohen said Monday.

Americans 65 and older now are recommended to get an additional dose of the current one-shot COVID-19 vaccine, the CDC said recently in updating its vaccine guidelines for the first time since the fall.

Older adults are at increased risk of severe disease from COVID-19, with more than half of COVID-19 hospitalizations from October to December 2023 occurring in adults 65 and older, the CDC said.

The one-shot COVID-19 vaccine first became available last fall, and was recommended for everyone age 5 and up to protect against serious illness.

Julie Washington covers healthcare for cleveland.com. Read previous stories at this link.

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No more free COVID-19 tests as of Friday, federal government says - cleveland.com