The City of Newport will soon distribute just over 8,000 at-home rapid COVID-19 tests to the general public. The tests were recently acquired by the state and will be made available at no cost through the municipality and community organizations in the coming days.
City spokesman Thomas Shevlin said Newport is anticipating receiving 8,138 at-home rapid test kits from the state. The city is set to pick up its first allotment of the tests Wednesday afternoon.
“As soon as we have the kits in hand, we’ll assess the immediate needs of our community partners and begin distributing test kits in accordance with State guidelines as soon as possible with more information expected to be announced over the City’s website and social media channels later this week,” said Shevlin.
In the meantime, the city is encouraging the public to utilize free walk-in COVID-19 testing services at the Edward King House Senior Center or via a state-run test site. Visit portal.ri.gov to schedule an appointment.
Last week, Gov. Dan McKee announced the state had received about 400,000 at-home rapid test kits to be made available to the public.
At-home rapid tests can also be acquired for free through the federal government beginning today. These tests are limited to four per household and can be ordered at covidtests.gov.
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