Here's How To Order Free COVID Test Kits In Washington

WASHINGTON — State health officials on Friday unveiled a brand new website allowing Washingtonians to order at-home COVID-19 test kits at no cost, which will be delivered in the coming weeks by Amazon.

Gov. Jay Inslee announced the purchase of 5.5 million rapid antigen tests earlier this month, promising that residents would soon be able to have the supplies delivered directly to their door. The web portal unveiled Friday, "Say Yes! COVID Test," asks residents to enter their zip code and provide their shipping information to secure up to five kits per household. Each order is expected to ship within a week or two, and residents can track their shipments online.

In a news release Friday, state officials cautioned that initial supply would be limited while the state awaits more deliveries.

Order up to free rapid test kits via Say Yes! COVID Test.

"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, the state's deputy secretary for COVID-19 response. "We want to make sure the rests we have are in homes when our state needs testing most — during this current surge."

The state-level effort follows this month's launch of the federal COVIDTests.gov website, which allows households across the nation to request up to four test kits for free delivery.

"This is an important step toward making tests more widely available across the state," said Dr. Umair Shah, state Secretary ofHealth. "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."

Residents who receive a positive test result from an at-home test can also choose to report their results to the state's COVID-19 hotline at 1-800-525-0127, which helps health officials track overall spread.

This article originally appeared on the Seattle Patch