The federal government is offering another round of free COVID tests

Boxes of rapid covid test
Boxes of BinaxNOW rapid antigen self tests for COVID-19.
Peter Cox | MPR News

Americans can once again order free COVID-19 tests from the federal government by visiting COVIDtests.gov. In this round, the U.S. Postal Service will deliver eight free rapid antigen tests to any household in the U.S. that wants them, according to the website.

The site suddenly appeared active Monday to offer the third round of free tests without a prior announcement.

This comes as COVID cases in the U.S. have risen more than 60 percent in the past two weeks and hospitalizations have begun to climb again as well.

The administration has been criticized for not giving away as many tests as households might need if someone comes down with COVID. But officials previously said they were holding back to see how much demand there was. The first round of tests sent out in January provided four per household, and the second round in March provided eight tests per household.

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