Governor Noem addresses COVID-19 testing supply shortage

Officials announced Wednesday that South Dakota’s public health lab has halted COVID-19 testing due to a shortage of supplies. The lab had to stop this week after running out of supplies both from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and private suppliers. It ran tests for medium and high risk patients on Monday. 

Governor Kristi Noem addressed the supply shortage issue in a news conference Wednesday in Rapid City.  

Noem said that this is a problem other states are facing as well.  She said that there are plenty of tests available in the state, and those who are being tested currently will have their tests run by the state lab as soon as the supplies are available.

The state reported no new positive COVID-19 caseWednesday, keeping the total at eleven.  But the state Department of Health says there are currently 350 tests pending because of the halt in testing. Â