NEW YORK, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Racial and economic disparities have been found by a new national government study in the growing number of people using at-home COVID-19 tests, reported Newsday on Monday.

       The study, released on Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said that while there was a "rapid increase" in U.S. at-home test use, it was lower among persons who identified as Black, had lower incomes and had a high school education or less.

       "Providing reliable and low-cost or free at-home test kits to underserved populations with otherwise limited access to COVID-19 testing could assist with continued prevention efforts," the study was quoted as saying.

       Health experts on Long Island, New York, said there needs to be a stronger effort to engage underserved communities who may not have easy access to the at-home testing kits.

       "The lack of availability of at-home rapid tests, particularly during the Omicron surge in December and January may be one reason for these populations to use the tests less frequently," Martine Hackett, director of public health programs at Hofstra University, told the newspaper, which serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, and is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area.