Wisconsin Plans to Offer Residents Free At-Home COVID-19 Tests

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2020 -- 8:06 AM

(WMTV) The state of Wisconsin plans to offer residents free at-home COVID-19 tests.

Gov. Tony Evers unveiled the initiative Tuesday, indicating the saliva collection kits will be available to everyone who lives in the state, regardless if they have symptoms.  Residents can order the collection kit online and have it shipped to their home.

“We… know that getting to a health care provider or a community testing site isn’t easy for everyone, and that’s why we are excited to offer this new option to make testing even more accessible for folks across our state,” Gov. Evers said in a statement.

Each kit comes with instructions on how to collect the saliva, including a video call with the test provider, and ship it to a lab for processing. The Dept. of Health Services compared the saliva test to the nasal swab version, which will tell if you have an active COVID-19 infection and can spread it to others.

“This is an important tool to provide easy access to COVID-19 testing,” DHS Secretary-designee Andrea Palm said. “As we roll out the COVID-19 vaccine to more Wisconsinites, we need to continue testing, contact tracing, and public health measures such as wearing a mask and social distancing.”

The kits will be provided by Vault Medical Services as part of a new contract with the state. Evers’ statement did not say how much the state would pay for the tests or how much it plans to spend, in all, on the effort.  The agency has more information about COVID-19 testing on its website.

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