Downriver Today

The upcoming Thanksgiving holiday has created a high demand for COVID-19 testing, and those who have put off getting tested before traveling to see loved ones may find themselves unable to get results back in time for the feast.

Some Michigan residents may find they are already too late to get an appointment and have a sample taken to test, and those lucky enough to find a way to get tested may find be disappointed that they won’t get their results back as quickly as they expected, according to Bridge Michigan.

Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, Michigan’s chief medical executive and deputy director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said that the state’s testing capacity was already being overwhelmed due to the recent spike in cases.

“We're incredibly concerned about what was happening with our testing capacity across the state,” Khaldun said, according to Bridge Michigan.

As Michigan rose to an approximately 14% positive test rate, the demand for tests nearly doubled, reported Bridge Michigan.

In Lansing, Sparrow Laboratories saw demand for tests rise to 2,800 samples a day, though the lab is only able to process 2,000 per day. As a result, Sparrow is now only accepting samples from individuals who have a doctor’s order.

Further complicating the problem, demand is increasing all across the country, leading to a new shortage of testing supplies. Facing government-imposed rationing to get allotted supplies where need is greatest, Beaumont Health has seen their supplies for rapid-turnaround tests drop to 20% of what they had been receiving.

And while supply chains constrict, even labs that have supplies are hitting snags simply due to a lack of sufficient personnel to process all the samples they are receiving.