Dr. Rex Archer, director of the Kansas City Health Department, says his office currently has no kits to test for possible cases of the new coronavirus.
That’s despite an announcement Tuesday evening from Vice President Mike Pence, who said “any American can be tested” for the virus.
“That created a real challenge when the vice president told everybody they could get tested,” Archer told the city council Thursday.
In addition, Archer says the city has only been able to request five test kits total. So when they do arrive, he said, the threshold for choosing whom to test will be extremely high.
“So even when we get the five (kits), probably 95% of folks that we might think should be tested won’t be allowed to be tested,” Archer said.
Currently, local providers can only collect samples to be tested by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Randall Williams, director of the state Department of Health and Senior Services, told St. Louis Public Radio this week that the state-run testing lab in Jefferson City is the only place currently allowed to administer tests for the disease. But the state is limiting who can have a test.
“There’s a finite number of tests we can do,” Williams said. “The question is, 'Can anybody get a test?' The answer is, 'No, you still have to meet criteria,'” he said.
Archer said he doesn’t know when the five kits he requested will arrive. Archer said most people with COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, can recover with rest at home.
“What we don’t want to do, though, is have people thinking they can get tested, going to the emergency rooms just because of that, and then getting exposed to that or other things when they actually should be staying at home,” Archer said.
Archer said he’s also put in a request to the state to be the first city to start doing surveillance in hospitals on anyone with respiratory issues to detect whether the virus has arrived.
Archer added that his department has been working with the city’s lobbyist to push for passage of an emergency spending bill to combat the virus.
Currently, there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Kansas City, and no federal, state or local officials have issued any restrictions on attending public events.
Lisa Rodriguez is the afternoon newscaster and the city hall reporter for KCUR 89.3 Follow her on Twitter @larodrig.
