Once President Trump forced states to reopen prematurely, it was only a matter of time until the United States would be forced to confront massive surges in coronavirus infections. In the interim, President Trump should have scaled up testing and secured ample stores of protective equipment – and ensured states and hospitals would be able to combat the pandemic.
He did not. And now, as the United States adds 60,000 new cases daily and hospitalizations are on the rise, test capacity across the country is deteriorating and care workers on the frontlines are struggling to protect themselves amid acute shortages of supplies.
Americans Are Waiting Hours for Tests and Weeks for Results, As Coronavirus Continues to Spread
In Idaho, Where Cases Have Been Surging, Doctors Are Only Testing The Sickest Patients Because There Is Not Enough Capacity To Test Everyone Who Wants To Be Tested.
- Dr. Ryan Heyborne, Chief Medical Officer for Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center: “When we first started offering testing at some of our tents, supply was limited. We were screening people based on symptoms. Then we started to have an inadequate number of tests based on the people that were coming. We were seeing dozens of people come to our testing sites and in the last week that has skyrocketed. I mean, we’ve had hundreds of people coming in for tests. We’ve had lines of 100 cars backed up, causing traffic issues and so forth. And we just have not had the testing availability. And we’re not unique in this. This is throughout the Treasure Valley. This is throughout the country. And so in order to keep testing return times down and you can imagine if we just create a traffic jam, not only literally, but also with the number of tests that we’re trying to send, it’s going to take a long time to get those results back. And so based on the availability, based on the need to really try to focus our testing on those people who are going to benefit from it, most — the patients who are sick, the patients with symptoms — that’s been the wise decision to be good stewards of those resources.” [Boise State Public Radio, 7/8/20]
In Phoenix, People Waited Eight Hours Or More In 100-Degree Temperatures To Get Tested.
- “Hundreds of people waited for hours in their vehicles for free drive-up COVID-19 testing on Thursday at South Mountain Community College. ‘It’s our first day — we did not anticipate this turnout,’ said Marsha Wood, physician advocate for Lab 24, a south Florida laboratory that’s providing testing. Before 8 a.m., hundreds of community members in vehicles lined major roads waiting to be tested, and many people had to wait eight hours or more in 100-degree temperatures.” [Arizona Republic, 7/3/20]
Arizonans Are Routinely Waiting Longer Than A Week For Results, Hindering The State’s Ability To Track And Isolate Cases.
- “A Tucson man waited 27 days for his COVID-19 test results. His test was negative, meaning he isolated from his family for two weeks for nothing. A man in Phoenix has been waiting for 12 days for test results because he needed to show his dentist he was negative within 10 days of a dental procedure. It’s now essentially impossible for him to get a timely test and results in order to qualify for the procedure. Arizonans routinely are waiting more than a week to get their test results for COVID-19.” [Arizona Republic, 7/6/20]
- “The keys to cutting off new cases included testing both symptomatic people and those who may have been in contact with positive cases. Because there is known asymptomatic spread of the virus, testing should include people without symptoms. After testing, positive cases should isolate and notify their contacts so that they can get tested and isolate as well. But that process is breaking down in Arizona, in part because of the slow results. A person waiting for results may not isolate themselves from others. If people learn weeks later that they were positive, their contacts cannot be notified until after the results. Those contacts may not have been isolating, potentially spreading the virus to others.” [Arizona Republic, 7/6/20]
People Are Isolating And Missing Paychecks To Await Test Results That Are Taking Weeks To Arrive.
- For two weeks, Rachael Jones has stayed home, going without a paycheck while waiting and waiting for the results of a COVID-19 test from a pharmacy near Philadelphia. ‘I’m just so disappointed. I just don’t know how — with the resources and the people we have and the money we have — we can’t get this right,’ she said. Four months, 3 million confirmed infections and over 130,000 deaths into the U.S. coronavirus outbreak, Americans confronted with an alarming resurgence of the scourge are facing long lines at testing sites and going a week or more without receiving a diagnosis. Some sites are running out of kits even as testing is ramped up.” [Associated Press, 7/8/20]
A New Orleans Testing Location Turned Away Residents For Three Consecutive Days After Reaching Their Daily Allotment Of Tests And Running Low On Supplies.
- “In New Orleans, people were turned away from a free testing site for a third consecutive day after it reached its daily allotment of tests. Health care providers are running low on trays and chemicals needed to run machines used in the tests.” [Associated Press, 7/8/20]
People In Austin, Texas Are Being Turned Away From Testing Facilities That Are At Capacity And Are Forced To Show Up Before Dawn To Wait In Line For Hours To Get Tested
- “With a cough and shortness of breath, it took Austin, Texas, resident Sam Lee three tries to get a COVID-19 test. The first time, he showed up an hour before the public testing site was set to close and was told they had reached capacity. He was turned away from a second center when rain shut it down, and voluntarily left a third after someone ahead of him said they had been waiting in line for more than three hours. ‘If you have symptoms and you are just driving around the city trying to figure out how you can get a test, for people who are positive, it is not ideal,’ said Lee, who finally got a test on June 29 after he showed up at a site before dawn and waited for more than two hours. Another five days passed before he was able to view the results online, and he didn’t receive a text with the results until seven days after being tested.” [Associated Press, 7/8/20]
A Paramedic In Virginia Has Been Forced To Isolate While His Wife Has Awaited Test Results For At Least A Week.
- “Azza Altiraifi, 26, of Vienna, Virginia… started feeling sick with respiratory symptoms and had trouble breathing on June 28. Within a few days she had chills, aches and joint pain and then a needling sensation in her feet. She went to her local CVS to get tested on July 1. She was still awaiting the result July 8. What is most frustrating about her situation is that her husband is a paramedic, and his employer won’t let him work because he may have been exposed to the virus. He was tested July 6 and is still awaiting news.” [Kaiser Health News, 7/9/20]
- “‘This is completely absurd,’ Altiraifi said. She also worries that her husband may have unknowingly passed on the virus on one of his ambulance calls to nursing homes and other care facilities before he began isolating at home. He has not shown any symptoms. Altiraifi, who still has symptoms including fatigue, said she was initially told she would have results in two to four days, but she was suspicious because after using a nasal swab to give herself the test, the box to put it in was so full it was hard to close.” [Kaiser Health News, 7/9/20]
The Government Failed to Prepare — Again. Supply Shortages Plague Nurses and Care Workers in the Nation’s Hardest Hit States.
Deborah Burger, A California Nurse And President Of National Nurses United: “A Lot Of People Thought Once The Alarm Was Sounded Back In March Surely The Federal Government Would Fix This, But That Hasn’t Happened.”
- “Nurses say they are reusing N95 masks for days and even weeks at a time. Doctors say they can’t reopen offices because they lack personal protective equipment. State officials say they have scoured U.S. and international suppliers for PPE and struggle to get orders filled. Experts worry the problem could worsen as coronavirus infections climb, straining medical systems. ‘A lot of people thought once the alarm was sounded back in March surely the federal government would fix this, but that hasn’t happened,’ said Deborah Burger, a California nurse and president of National Nurses United, a union representing registered nurses. Like many health-care workers, Burger blamed the Trump administration for the lack of equipment, noting the administration has insisted the responsibility falls to state and local officials, with the federal government playing only a supporting role.” [Washington Post, 7/8/20]
Houston Doctors Have Been Told To Reuse N95 Respirator For Up To 15 Days Before Throwing Them Out.
- “Doctors at Memorial City Medical Center in Houston who treat Covid-19 patients have been told to reuse single-use N95 respirator masks for up to 15 days before throwing them out. The country’s largest organization of registered nurses found in a survey of its members in late June that 85 percent had been forced to reuse disposable N95 masks while treating coronavirus patients.” [New York Times, 7/9/20]
Nurses At The Good Samaritan Medical Center In West Palm Beach, Fla, Say They Are Assigned Just One Isolation Gown Per Day.
- “Two nurses at the Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Fla., who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of professional retribution, said nurses are being assigned just one gown per day, sometimes moving between confirmed covid-19 patients and suspected patients without changing their gear and with only minimal cleaning supplies. Some are now using nonmedical N95s and pairing them with surgical masks to make the coverings waterproof, they said.” [Washington Post, 6/8/20]
FEMA Has Been Distributing Defective Equipment To Nursing Homes.
- “FEMA has been distributing 14-day supplies of gear to nursing homes, but many providers have quickly burned through the shipments. There have also been widespread complaints about defective equipment, including child-size gloves, gowns without armholes and loose-fitting cloth masks that are ineffective for filtering out virus particles, according to LeadingAge, a national association of nonprofit care providers. The dearth of protective equipment at facilities serving older adults has prompted mounting alarm among public health experts. More than 40 percent of all coronavirus deaths have been linked to nursing homes and long-term care centers, according to a tally by The New York Times.” [New York Times, 7/9/20]
Prices Are Skyrocketing As Primary Care Offices And Other Industries Try To Attain PPE.
- “Demand for protective equipment has soared, but unlike in March, when efforts focused on getting PPE for major hospitals — especially in New York, Detroit and Chicago — supplies now are desperately needed by primary care offices, nursing homes, prisons and psychiatric and disability facilities. As many states continue to reopen their economies, demand has also surged from the construction industry and other sectors. With soaring demand, prices have skyrocketed.” [Washington Post, 7/8/20]
Hospitals Are Spending Much More On PPE Than They Historically Do — One Maryland Hospital That Spent $600,000 On PPE Last Year Expects To Spend $10 Million This Year.
- “Some hospitals say much of the PPE they have acquired has been exorbitantly priced. At a legislative hearing, a hospital association executive detailed how one Maryland hospital that spent $600,000 on PPE last year expects to spend $10 million this year. The struggles have been especially acute for smaller and rural providers that can’t compete with bigger health systems on price and large-scale orders, experts say.” [Washington Post, 7/8/20]