Andrea Mosterman, an associate professor of history at the University of New Orleans, was already dismayed that she had to wait three days to secure a covid-19 test at a Walgreens near her home after being in contact with someone who had tested positive.
But on Sunday, when she showed up at the pharmacy drive-thru, she was told the store had run out of test kits and none was available anywhere in the city. “I told them I had a reservation, but they said it didn’t matter,” she said.
On Monday, eager to know her status and get back to work, she waited at an urgent care center for four hours to get tested. Within minutes, she was told she had tested negative.
While relieved, Mosterman said the process upset her. “It was incredibly irresponsible for them to promise me a test and have me wait three days to have the test and then to say, ‘We don’t have it.’ That was so frustrating,” she said.