3 ms·

Supply chain issues, for one. Eg. Not enough cotton swabs: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/16/coronavirus-testing-glitch-cotton-swabs-132692 https://www.

• hcknwscommenter 7y ago
  Seriously? There are approximately 1 Billion cotton swabs in this country (U.S.). This is not the issue. The issue is gross federal gov't incompetence.
  • Reelin 7y ago
    It's somewhat more nuanced than that. The currently approved swabs have limited availability, and indeed there are others (unapproved) that would work. However it seems you can't use just any - they have to consist of synthetic fiber, can't have a wooden shaft, and can't contain calcium alginate. This rules out many of the swabs that a healthcare facility might have on hand. (https://khn.org/news/as-coronavirus-testing-gears-up-specialized-swabs-running-out/ https://khn.org/news/as-coronavirus-testing-gears-up-special...)
• makomk 7y ago
  Yeah, by a bit of absolutely terrible luck, the preferred swabs for this are produced by a factory in Lombardy, Italy. There are other manufacturers of swabs that could be used but they don't seem to have the production capacity.