ANN ARBOR – A new community challenge is providing households in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti with free, rapid COVID-19 test kits in order to help curb the spread of the novel virus.
The Say Yes! COVID Test At-Home Testing Challenge encourages unvaccinated residents to test for the virus twice a week, regardless of symptoms. If you are a resident of Ann Arbor or Ypsilanti and want to place an order for home delivery, visit covidTestAAYpsi.org. Tests kits can also be picked up from the following locations:
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- Washtenaw County Health Department: 555 Towner St, Ypsilanti, MI, 48198 during COVID-19 walk-in vaccination clinics. These hours are currently Tues-Fri from 9-11:30am and 1-3:30pm.
- Health Department COVID-19 vaccination clinics in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, listed at washtenaw.org/covid19vaccine
According to a press release, anyone who is age 8 or older and is unvaccinated should participate in the bi-weekly testing. If multiple family members live in the same household, the Health Department recommends choosing up to two members to take part in the testing twice a week for a month or until all tests are used.
Those who have the highest risk of exposure are the best choice for testing, says the Health Department.
“Children, adolescents, and adults who are not yet fully vaccinated need more accessible tests to inform their choices. Free, rapid, self-administered testing will give community members one more way to help reduce the spread of COVID-19,” medical director with the Washtenaw County Health Department Juan Luis Marquez said in a release. “Anyone can just swab the front of their nose and perform this test in the privacy of their home and have results within 10 minutes.”
The Say Yes! COVID Test challenge is a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, test manufacturer Quidel, community partners and healthcare tech company CareEvolution.
The free tests in the kits are authorized for use by the Food and Drug Administration.
Those who participate in the at-home testing program can also earn up to $100 in gift cards by taking part in an optional research study.