Arizona once had a stockpile of supplies, state officials say, but the spike in cases since Memorial Day has depleted even the basics of testing, such as swabs.
“That really speaks to the problems of the national and global supply chain,” said Daniel Ruiz, director of operations for Arizona. “It’s not like these things are in a warehouse ready to be delivered.”
All along, the United States has struggled with test-related issues. In February, the federal government sent a contaminated test kit to states, delaying a broader testing strategy and leaving states blind to a virus that was already beginning to circulate. Later, supply testing became a choke point, and states asked the federal government to use the Defense Production Act to force additional production.
Many locations have been able to overcome some of the supply constraints that defined the early days of the outbreak, in part with their own resources. Once faced with a severe shortage as the epicenter of the virus, New York City is now testing 30,000 people a day, officials say, an expansion that included the city building its own test kits and partnering with labs. private.
But even when Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced last week that anyone in New York State who wanted a test could get one, officials from other states were left looking for a more robust test system and setting new limits on who can take one.
“We are too fragmented,” said Dr. Michael Mina, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Harvard’s TH Chan School of Public Health. “We don’t have a good way of balancing the load on the system.”
Delays and evidence shortages have increasingly become a problem in Texas, where cases are increasing.
Cities like San Antonio and Austin have reevaluated only those showing symptoms as a way to manage demand and a backlog of evidence.
