WASHINGTON – First, some of the coronavirus tests didn't work. Then there weren't enough to go around. Now, just as the federal government tries to ramp up nationwide screening, laboratory workers are warning of a new roadblock: dire shortages of testing supplies.
The shortages are the latest stumble in a botched effort to track the spread of coronavirus that has left the U.S. weeks behind many other developed countries.
Dwindling supplies include both chemical components and basic swabs needed to collect patient samples. “What you have now is a global shortage of all these ancillary supplies needed to do these tests,” said Eric Blank, of the Association of Public Health Laboratories, which represents state and local health labs. “These are