Massachusetts municipalities interested in obtaining at-home rapid antigen COVID-19 tests with no restrictions on their use will soon be able to get them free of charge from the Baker administration, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito announced Tuesday.
The state sent local boards of health a short survey Tuesday inquiring about their interest in at-home COVID tests, KN95 masks and surgical masks.
The survey must be returned by June 10 and Polito said interested towns will get an amount of tests proportional to their populations.
Polito announced the availability of the antigen tests in an email circulated Tuesday by the Department of Revenue’s Division of Local Services.
The email did not say how many tests are up for grabs or when towns that request the tests could expect to receive them.
At the start of June, Massachusetts is averaging about 1,450 new COVID-19 cases each day more than two years into the pandemic.
But that figure, reported by the Department of Public Health based on reports from health care providers, does not capture positive cases among people who test themselves at home and then do not confirm their diagnosis with a molecular test
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