Sudbury Offers Free COVID-19 Test Kits To Residents

SUDBURY, MA — Sudbury is now offering free COVID-19 test kits to town residents, part of a larger statewide effort to distribute kits to anyone who wants them.

In June, state officials announced a new round of test kit disbursements, and Sudbury received about 7,200 kits. The at-home tests take about 15 minutes to determine if a person has been infected by the virus, but are considered less reliable than polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.

Sudbury began offering the test kits for pickup on Tuesday.

The kits may be especially important at the moment. Massachusetts is on the upswing of cases caused by the omicron BA.5 variant. Health officials believe BA.5 is more transmissible than other variants, including for people who very recently had the virus or who have received multiple vaccine doses.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, COVID-19 transmission was "medium" in Middlesex County as of Thursday, with about 140 new cases per week per 100,000.

Here's where you can pick up a free rapid test kit in Sudbury:

• Sudbury Board of Health — 275 Old Lancaster Road,
• Goodnow Library — 21 Concord Road
• Sudbury Select Board — 278 Old Sudbury Road (town manager's office)
• Sudbury Senior Center — 40 Fairbank Road (Council on Aging)