Montgomery County will be providing residents of its hardest-hit ZIP codes with free at-home coronavirus tests.

The initiative, created in partnership with Louisiana-based company Ready Responders, will send officials to provide consenting household members with temperature and vital signs checks, and a saliva coronavirus test. The targeted ZIP codes include areas like Takoma Park, Silver Spring, and Gaithersburg, and testing will be available to residents who may have difficulty accessing a community testing site.

The program includes visits seven days a week from the Ready Responder teams, as well as a Maryland health worker and human services worker. Individuals who need urgent medical care or food, or who need a safe place to isolate, will be assisted during the meetings. Residents or households will either be referred for testing by a community-based agency, or they can refer themselves by calling the testing helpline, where they will be asked a series of questions to screen for eligibility.

A similar at-home testing program launched in late April, when Maryland’s health department created the Vulnerable Population Task Force — or “go teams” — to provide coronavirus testing in the state’s hardest-hit jurisdictions, including Montgomery County. Up through June 3, the “go teams” provided at-home tests for individuals in significant need, but some of the Montgomery County residents’ tests were lost, according to county health officials.

Earlier this month, county officials raised concerns about the jurisdiction’s testing capacity, fearing that a second wave of COVID-19 cases would outpace the availability of testing. Montgomery County has the second-highest number of coronavirus cases in the state — behind Prince George’s County — with 16,768 reported as of Friday, July 24. The county has also tested the most residents in the state, with 140,129 total tests, which accounts for roughly 13% of the county’s population. Prince George’s County, another populous jurisdiction, has tested a similar percentage of residents.

Residents can call the helpline at 240-777-1755, which is open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Callers will be asked a series of questions to determine eligibility.