By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Reno County Health Department director Nick Baldetti was much more diplomatic on Tuesday regarding testing limitations right now in Kansas and Reno County more generally, but he did explain why we have a supply chain problem. The swabs needed to test for COVID-19 are different than a Q-Tip.
"If you've ever seen one of those swabs, they can't have a wood shaft and it can't be cotton swabs," Baldetti said. "They have to be synthetic swabs, the reason is because both wood and cotton has their own DNA profile. The DNA and the RNA of the natural products of cotton and wood muck up the ability to test for the actual virus itself."
Also, getting the swab to a testing facility has its challenges right now.
"The actual medium for viral transfer is also in short supply," Baldetti said. "When you swab somebody and you break off the top of the swab and you place into this medium for shipping, that is in short supply, as well."
Though this is above his scope, Baldetti cited the previous comments of Gov. Laura Kelly and KDHE head Dr. Lee Norman regarding the place of Kansas when determining resource allocation from the federal level as being part of the struggle, in that Kansas is having to find other sources for such supplies beyond what they have been able to get from the federal government to this point.