This archive report was first published on 7 July 2020.
Published on July 7, 2020, Arizona's testing woes have come to the forefront as the state struggles to keep up with the surge in COVID-19 cases since Memorial Day.
According to state officials, Arizona once had a stockpile of supplies, but the recent surge in cases has drained even basic items for testing, such as swabs.
"That really speaks to the national and global supply chain issues," said Daniel Ruiz, Arizona's chief operating officer. "It's not that these things are in a warehouse ready to be delivered."
The US has been grappling with testing issues since the early days of the outbreak. In February, the federal government shipped tainted testing kits to states, delaying a broader testing strategy and leaving states blind to the virus's spread.
Despite some cities, like New York City, overcoming supply constraints with their own resources, other states continue to face testing shortages. In Texas, cities like San Antonio and Austin have reverted to testing only those showing symptoms due to the high demand and backlog of tests.
"We are too fragmented," said Dr. Michael Mina, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health. "We don't have a good way to load-balance the system."
