Minnesota to restrict COVID-19 testing to specific patients amid kit shortage

Minnesota health leaders have been asking the federal government for more testing capacity.

The Minnesota Department of Health will be limiting COVID-19 tests to patients in certain circumstances due to a national shortage of testing kits.

The MDH announced Monday that it’s being forced to make adjustments to the testing criteria “to focus on the highest priority specimens,” amid a dearth in available testing kits nationwide.

“We need to be focusing on testing those individuals for whom the positive test will make a significant difference either in their care for our healthcare system,” MDH director of infectious diseases Kris Ehresmann said Tuesday. Continue reading.