As Cases of a new COVID-19 variant are increasing Across the United States, the federal government is once again offering Americans free COVID-19 test kitsIndividuals and households will be able to order the test kits later this month, immediately after the summer surge in COVID-19 cases.

The Biden administration restarted the same program also last fall, after a brief pause to conserve supplies of the test. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the program, has not yet said when it will resume accepting orders for the at-home COVID-19 tests through the COVIDTests.gov website.

Once an order is placed, the U.S. Postal Service delivers the test kits directly to customers’ homes.

When the site reopens, U.S. households will be allowed to order up to four test kits each. The over-the-counter kits detect current COVID-19 variants and can be used through the end of the year, according to HHS. The tests are expected to arrive in homes before the holiday season, when families often gather for Thanksgiving, Christmas and other celebrations.

HHS recommends testing for COVID-19 so that infected people can get treatment and self-isolate or take other measures, such as wearing a mask, to avoid infecting others. To date, more than 900 million tests have been distributed to American households through the federal program.

The tests can be expensive when purchased over the counter at drugstores in the U.S., making them unaffordable for many families. For example, a pack of two BinaxNow COVID-19 antigen self-tests from Abbott costs $18.99 at CVS.com.

Other government efforts to curb the spread of the virus include a renewed vaccination initiative. The government is encouraging citizens to get an up-to-date COVID-19 booster shot to prepare for the respiratory virus season in the fall and winter. Last month, the Food and Drug Administration approved an updated COVID-19 Vaccine formulations from Pfizer and Moderna that are currently being administered in pharmacies nationwide.