The government had been preparing to shut down the program that ships free coronavirus tests to American households and was considering destroying 160 million tests.

The Trump administration reversed a plan to shut down the government website that ships free coronavirus tests to households late Tuesday, after The Washington Post reported that the administration was preparing to end the program and was evaluating the costs of destroying or disposing of tens of millions of tests.

The Post reported on Tuesday afternoon that the administration was evaluating the costs of destroying tests that would otherwise be provided free to Americans, citing two officials at a federal public health preparedness agency and internal documents reviewed by The Post. A half-hour before the planned shutdown, Department of Health and Human Services spokesman Andrew Nixon sent a statement to The Post confirming that COVIDtests.gov would shut down at 8 p.m. Tuesday. But he said the tests would not be destroyed and “will remain in inventory until they meet their expiration date.”

“With COVID-19 infections decreasing after a winter peak, we are transitioning away from government-distributed at-home tests to the commercial market just as we have in the past,” that first statement said. “Tests ordered through COVIDtests.gov before 8 p.m. EST, February 18, 2025, will be shipped.”

Then, 12 minutes before the site’s planned shutdown, Nixon sent a new statement saying COVIDtests.gov would not be pulled offline at this time.