COVID tests in scarce supply in Stanislaus County. What happened to state allocation?
Home testing kits are in short supply as the COVID omicron strain infects more residents in Stanislaus County, at the same that flu and other respiratory viruses are making people sick.
The county’s public health agency has recently received a total of 40,470 rapid test kits from the state, a spokesperson said. The allocation to the county is separate from the test kits provided to school districts.
About 80 percent of the tests were distributed to community-based organizations and local agencies or provided to residents through county library sites.
Kamlesh Kaur, a health educator for the county, said earlier this week the remaining 20 percent would be distributed to sites such as libraries that have run out.
Kaur said Thursday more tests were delivered to libraries but the Modesto, Salida and Oakdale libraries were completely out by noon. As of Thursday afternoon, a few were available at the Newman, Waterford and Empire branches but were not expected to last for long.
Ceres had a distribution set for Thursday from 8:30 to 4:30 p.m. But the city exhausted its supply by 10:30 a.m., according to a Facebook post from the Ceres Police Department.
According to a news flash on its website, the city of Patterson will run a drive-through handing out free COVID test kits to residents Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Hammon Senior Center or until the supply runs out. The senior center is at 1033 W. Las Palmas Ave.
Kaur said cities that received the state-issued test kits from the county usually came up with their own plans for distribution.
The county also distributed the home tests to organizations including El Concilio, West Modesto Community Collaborative, family resource centers, Assyrian Wellness Collaborative, Central Valley Pride Center, Jakara Movement, agricultural partners, Stanislaus Chinese Association and homeless shelters.
