Los Angeles County is pausing their distribution of at-home COVID-19 testing kits until Jan. 12 due to high demand and staff illness.
The County began offering free at-home tests recently due to the surge in Omicron and Delta variants.
Multiple media outlets have reported that when the program was operational, only 4,000 at-home tests were available a day.
According to the City of Long Beach, testing at clinics has seen a steep increase over the last several weeks, with 347 people tested on Dec. 14 compared to 6,965 on Jan. 4
Residents who ordered an at-home COVID-19 test online through the LA County Home Test Collection program will receive their test in the mail within two days, according to the LA County website.
Fulgent Genetics is the company administering the tests for the LA County Home Test Collection program and at-home tests can be ordered through its website.
Once the program is operational again, tests will be sent to residents and returned to Fulgent Genetics using FedEx.
Once residents receive their tests through FedEx, they have three to five days to take it and ship it back. The test needs to be mailed back the same day it’s taken.
After Fulgent Genetics receives the test, results will be available within two days and residents will be alerted through email.
With parental assistance, at-home test kits are appropriate for children as old as 4.
According to Fulgent Genetics’s website, when taking the at-home test people should rotate the included swab in each nostril a few times gently but firmly.
Although the at-home COVID-19 tests provided by the LA County Home Test Collection program are free, the County is asking recipients to identify their health insurance provider so the County can be reimbursed for the cost of the test.
Individuals without health insurance can still receive free at-home tests through the program.
As of Jan. 4, the rate of positive cases in Long Beach was 16,723 per every 100,000 people, according to the City’s online COVID-19 dashboard.
According to the City’s website, due to high demand appointments are strongly recommended for individuals who want to get tested at any City-run sites, and testing facilities will stop accepting walk-in patients an hour before their closing time.