Free home COVID tests are available

By Terry Murry on Wednesday, December 1st, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories

WALLA WALLA COUNTY – Walla Walla County residents can now order rapid, self-administered COVID-19 tests online for home delivery at no charge. The Walla Walla County Department of Community Health encourages residents to use the tests to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and keep the community healthy.

“Anyone can just swab the front of their nose and perform this test in the privacy of their home and have results in 10 minutes,” Walla Walla County Public Health Officer Dr. Daniel Kaminsky said.

Rapid self-administered testing has the potential to disrupt the spread of COVID-19 that occurs when people are infected, but don’t yet have symptoms. Testing on a routine basis offers the best chance of identifying COVID-19 and isolating early. The COVID-19 tests are authorized for use by the FDA, provided free of charge, and the entire testing process can be managed privately. A free, private mobile app is available to help individuals in every step of testing. The maker of the tests, Quidel, is the same company that made the first rapid flu tests used by doctors’ offices in the United States.

Individuals who have not yet received the COVID-19 vaccine or who have the highest risk of exposure to COVID-19, such as people working or going to school outside the home, are ideal candidates for participation, but anyone over the age of 2 is welcome to participate.

Walla Walla County residents can visit https://sayyescovidhometest.org/ to order test kids for doorstep delivery.