DEAR SUN SPOTS: I want to order the free COVID-19 test kits and also need to know where to purchase them in the local area while I’m waiting. I have gone to a couple stores and they have been out of them. — Lynda, Minot

ANSWER: You can order the free test kits at https://www.covidtests.gov/. It’s very easy to do and there is no cost. I have heard that people are already receiving their test kits within a week after ordering.

The best thing to do to get them locally is to call some local stores before you go out shopping to ensure the tests are in stock. So many stores carry them but they fly off the shelves quickly. Walgreens is reported to have them in stock at this writing, as well as Lewiston Hannaford and Food City.

Furthermore, most people with a health plan can now go online, or to a pharmacy or store to purchase an at-home test at no cost, either through reimbursement or free of charge through their health insurance.

The test will either be free at the store, if your health plan provides for direct coverage, or by reimbursement if you are charged for your test.

Be sure to keep your receipt if you need to submit a claim to your insurance company for reimbursement. If your plan has set up a network of preferred providers at which you can obtain a test with no out-of-pocket expense, you can still obtain tests from other retailers outside that network. Insurance companies are required to reimburse you at a rate of up to $12 per individual test (or the cost of the test, if less than $12).

Health plans must cover eight individual at-home over-the-counter COVID-19 tests per person enrolled in the plan per month. That means a family of four can get 32 tests per month for free.

DEAR SUN SPOTS: I’ve been wondering where the temperatures are taken for the local TV channels.

For example, on Fox 23 and 13 there is a sidebar that gives the temps for the Maine towns, and also a weather forecast and map. The temps and weather don’t always agree with each other. Why is that? Thanks for checking. — No name, no town

ANSWER: Weather information comes from satellites, Doppler radar, buoys, computer models and high-speed communication systems that also include weather observations and data gathered by the National Weather Service. There are ever-changing conditions, and technology (and humans) sometimes can’t keep up.

You mention Fox News. Last fall, Fox News Media announced that it was  investing more than $10 million in a new digital service called Fox Weather that is as a free, live, 24-hour ad-supported streaming video channel also available as a mobile app and on internet-connected TVs through services such as Tubi. It is also seen on over-the-air TV stations, reaching 26 million homes.

At the beginning of January, viewers have been able to watch Fox Weather for free on digital over-the-air channels in the cities where the Fox Corp. owns stations.

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