Where to find free at-home COVID test kits in New York City

February 14, 2022

Images By Tang Ming Tung/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — New York City began distributing free, at-home COVID-19 test kits across the five boroughs Monday.

Tests, made by the company Flowflex, will be available at 27 public library branches and 14 cultural landmarks including the American Museum of Natural History, the Brooklyn Children’s Museum and the Staten Island Zoo.

Across the city, there are 13 sites where tests can be picked up in Queens, 10 in Brooklyn, seven in Manhattan, six in the Bronx and five in Staten Island. More sites are expected to be added over the next few weeks.

“Our mission remains to make testing resources accessible for all New Yorkers to safely and confidently manage the pandemic,” Dr. Ted Long, executive director of the NYC Test & Trace Corps, said in a statement. “Distributing at-home tests at cultural sites and libraries provides familiar, prominent locations for people to pick up the resources they need to know if they have COVID-19 and to return to the beloved destinations that make our city so special.”

He continued, “I am grateful for our cultural and library partnerships and excited to see them lead New York City safely forward.”

Test & Trace will be delivering kits to the libraries and cultural sites once a week, and supplies are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

“We will have sent out over 350,000 tests by end of week. [Distribution] to each site varies, but we are confident that we can meet demand,” a spokesperson for NYC Health + Hospitals, which oversees Test & Trace, told ABC News in a statement.

Test kits are limited to one per person and, although distribution will be up to the individual site, Test & Trace is recommending one per day, the spokesperson added.

Test & Trace said its website will be updated daily with the hours and locations of sites where the tests are available.

The new program comes just two weeks after Mayor Eric Adams said the city will be offering free at-home, same-day delivery of COVID antiviral pills for those with mild to moderate symptoms.

The city is also pushing for more residents to get vaccinated. Over the weekend, Adams announced the return of cash incentives including a $100 gift card for anyone who gets their first dose or is boosted at a city-run or SOMOS Community Care site through the end of February.

The gift cards will be eligible for use through March 31.