Free COVID-19 tests available to Michiganders in at-risk communities: How to get them

Kristen Jordan Shamus, Detroit Free Press
·1 min read

Michigan's health department is expanding its partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation to provide 300,000 free coronavirus tests to 60,000 households in at-risk communities across the state.

Michiganders can go online to accesscovidtests.org and enter their ZIP code to order five tests per month in July and again in August.

“Testing remains both a critical and helpful tool in managing the spread of COVID-19 and ensuring our loved ones and neighbors don’t get infected,” Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, the state's chief medical executive, said in a statement.

A COVID-19 at-home test kid that was sent to Linda Bauer of Clinton Township from the federal government rests on the table at her home in Clinton Township on February 9, 2022. Bauer has been unable to order the tests for her elderly neighbor.
A COVID-19 at-home test kid that was sent to Linda Bauer of Clinton Township from the federal government rests on the table at her home in Clinton Township on February 9, 2022. Bauer has been unable to order the tests for her elderly neighbor.

The partnership is through Project Access COVID Tests, or Project ACT. It includes the Rockefeller Foundation, state health departments, CareEvolution, iHealth Labs and Amazon.com and encourages people to test regularly to slow the spread of the virus.

Community eligibility for the free tests was determined using the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Social Vulnerability Index, combined with data on COVID-19 burden to identify areas at high-risk for COVID-19.

Already, Project ACT has provided 250,000 tests to 50,000 Michigan households as part of a pilot program with the state health department.

Tests can be ordered on the website, accesscovidtests.org and will arrive within one to two weeks. Anyone who doesn't have Internet access can call 211 for help with ordering the tests.

For more information about coronavirus testing, go to michigan.gov/Coronavirus.

Contact Kristen Shamus: kshamus@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kristenshamus. 

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Free COVID-19 tests available in at-risk Michigan communities