COVID-19 QUICK TESTS IN CALIFORNIA OUT OF SUPPLY
The Mariposa skilled nursing facility that Katrina Anderson manages has not had a single case of COVID-19 among its fragile residents since the start of the pandemic.
In addition to other strict infection control policies, everyone who enters the building is given a rapid test.
“If you come to work in our establishment, you are tested. If you come in and fix something that’s broken in the facility, you’re tested, ”Anderson said. “No one comes in without taking a quick test.”
Anderson has been told by the state that testing is rare. She was able to obtain enough kits for the following weeks. But other organizations, like schools and community groups, that are trying to set up rapid testing through the California Department of Public Health may not be so lucky. The Testing Task Force website warns that it will take six to eight weeks to receive the state’s rapid test kits.
Rapid testing is a major strategy for schools to prevent children from spending time out of the classroom sick or in quarantine. But the state’s program has been inundated with orders, and some schools say PCR testing is their only reliable option at the moment.
State public health officials told the Kern High School District in Bakersfield “that there is a national shortage of antigens / rapid tests,” said Erin Briscoe-Clarke, spokesperson for the district. The school therefore rather uses PCR tests despite the longer waiting time for the results.
DeRisi of UCSF said he heard that “hundreds of schools” signed up in September for state tests, “just as the shortage occurred and just as the Delta bump hit. “.
The state’s Department of Public Health did not return requests for comment on its ability to fill school orders.
But the Clovis District was informed earlier this month that the state may not be able to fulfill its order for testing kits, spokesman Kelly Avants said. “We received our order and heard within a day or two that the state was no longer accepting additional orders because they had gone out,” Avants said.
Earlier this month, Clovis District contacted more than 40 vendors looking for rapid test kits. No one had any in stock and wouldn’t be doing so until at least October, maybe even December. Eventually, the state was able to carry out the district order.
“Like so many other supply chains right now, it’s unpredictable,” Avants said.
The district has a stock of tests of approximately two weeks and expects an upcoming delivery of 12,800 additional tests from a private supplier.
Without rapid tests readily available to the public, some parents spend hundreds of dollars monitoring their children’s health.
Nayamin Martinez, a parent of Clovis Unified, received an email several weeks ago indicating that a child in his daughter’s class had tested positive for COVID-19.
It was a Friday afternoon and the family’s local Kaiser testing clinic was closed. Even with insurance, Martinez couldn’t find a quick test kit or a same day appointment anywhere. She also knew that the results of a PCR test would not arrive until the following Monday or Tuesday and did not want to prevent her daughter from going to school unnecessarily.
Martinez ended up taking her to emergency care and paying $ 270 for the quick test – and her peace of mind.
Hundreds of closed test sites
The California Department of Public Health says there is an overabundance of PCR testing capacity. Thousands of same-day test appointments are available on the state’s testing website, and more tests are being processed daily now than during the winter wave. OptumServe, which manages the state’s testing efforts, is working with the state to monitor demand and offer drive-thru, mobile and landline options, health officials told CalMatters.
Still, many Californians complain that they can’t find a date or a quick test. The problem: While government-run mass testing sites have closed, it’s not always clear to people where new sites have sprung up.
“You end up with barriers to access that have less to do with capacity than with lack of information,” said Dr. Jorge Caballeros, physician and founder of Coders Against COVID, a group of volunteers that creates a directory of test sites. nationally.
“More and more tests have moved from a government or public health service to privatization. A lot of things have shifted to primary care physicians, health systems and the companies that do these tests, ”he said.
According to the Coders Against COVID database, 900 testing sites have closed in California since April 2020, and that’s likely an undercoverage.
Labor and immigrant communities that often face technological or language barriers grapple with changing testing locations and longer turnaround times. Community organizations were left to fill the gaps with the few supplies they had left.
“We are still the only organization in Marin County to perform rapid tests for free, and I don’t understand why,” said Yolanda Oviedo, COVID-19 response manager at Canal Alliance. “It was really difficult for us to maintain.
Canal Alliance, which provides a range of services to the Latin community of Marin, offers rapid tests two days a week.
Oviedo said the group received 5,000 test kits from the state in May and used more than 3,000. Demand has increased since August and they have resorted to limiting testing to 100 people per day in order to do so. last supplies as long as possible.
People seeking to take tests on the site are frequently turned away. It’s a tough decision, especially when they know community members are in despair, said Marina Palma, San Rafael City School Board Member and Canal Alliance volunteer.
“We have people coming to test with us from Richmond, Petaluma, Novato, San Francisco,” Palma said.
“When you go to other places, it takes two days for the results. Two days means a lot for working families, ”said Palma. “If they don’t have this verification, they cannot provide for their families. “
It’s a similar story in the Central Valley, where Martinez, the Clovis parent, is the executive director of the Central California Environmental Justice Network. His organization, which has partnered with UC Davis, is the only location in Yolo, Stanislaus, Madera and Fresno counties to offer rapid testing.
Several weeks ago, they also started capping testing at 100 per day.
“When I heard that we were capping (testing), I asked ‘Why don’t you order more?’ They said ‘There is nothing more to order. They are late, ”Martinez said.
Many of those tested have Medi-Cal or are uninsured and cannot get appointments at local health clinics. Routine testing for employers is not necessarily covered by insurance.
Every day around 5 a.m. people start calling Martinez, desperate for a free test. “It’s bureaucracies after bureaucracies. It’s exhausting, ”she said.
Our healthcare reporting is supported by the California Health Care Foundation, Blue Shield of California Foundation, California Wellness Foundation, and California Endowment.
