3 Vans, 6 Coolers, a Plane, a Storm and 2 Labs: A Nasal Swab's Journey
The backlog for Covid-19 testing in New Jersey and other parts of the country is getting worse, not better. From the nose of a patient on a mile-long line to a phone call days later, bottlenecks thwart its progress.
The lines start forming the night before, as people with glassy eyes and violent coughs try to get tested for the virus. In the darkness, they park their cars, cut their engines and try to sleep.
The backlog for coronavirus testing in New Jersey, the state with the second-highest caseload in the country, has been getting worse, not better, officials say.
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She was battling a fever, a cough, dizziness and a feeling of confusion. “Like you don’t know where you are,” the 45-year-old said. “You forget what you’re doing.”
When medical workers finally took a sample from her the next morning, it would be shipped across the country because the local lab was too full. Three vans would take it part of the way. A plane, sent on a detour by a storm, would take it further. It would be days before she got a result. Until then, Ms. Holmes-Perez waited.
... more horror at
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/13/nyregion/coronavirus-testing.html?auth=login-email&login=email