The Biden administration says it will make at-home COVID-19 tests available for free again this winter amid a steep rise in cases. Beginning today, U.S. residents can once again order four COVID tests per household through the U.S. Postal Service. The program was paused in September after Congress failed to approve a new round of COVID relief funding requested by the White House. Over the past two weeks, U.S. coronavirus hospitalizations have risen more than 20%, and deaths have surged by 65%, with more than 3,000 people dying of COVID each week. Much of the latest surge has been caused by two Omicron subvariants that have evolved to bypass immune defenses. Researchers stress that most people who are up to date on their vaccines are still highly protected against severe disease.