Rapid At-Home COVID-19 Tests in High Demand

As many families return to work and school following the holidays, those COVID-19 at-home rapid tests are in high demand and hard to find.

A quick visit to several Walgreens stores around the northwest metro on Tuesday showed just how difficult it can be to find these tests.

The Robbinsdale location had empty shelves where the tests would normally be. Staff members said they haven’t had any in stock since Saturday, and signs posted out front alerted people to the fact that they’re sold out.

No tests at-home tests were available at the Walgreens in New Hope either. Staff members there told customers to try checking out locations in Hopkins or Minneapolis.

Meanwhile, the Crystal location on Bass Lake Road just got a shipment in on Tuesday. A visit to the store early in the afternoon showed they had shelves full of two different types of at-home test kits.

The Walgreens in Crystal had shelves filled with COVID-19 at-home test kits.

Walgreens provided this statement regarding the availability of the at-home tests:

Due to the incredible demand for at-home rapid testing, we put in effect a four item purchase limit on at-home COVID-19 testing products in our stores and digital properties in an effort to help improve inventory while we continue to work diligently with our supplier partners to best meet customer demands. We refer you to manufacturers for questions on supply of individual products.

Some stores may experience a temporary shortage in rapid OTC testing solutions. For consumers looking for specific items, Walgreens.com updates with the latest available store inventory information frequently throughout the day.

Meanwhile, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on Tuesday directed the National Guard to open two new community testing sites at armories in the metro in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). The National Guard has identified locations in Anoka and Cottage Grove as testing sites. More details on locations, hours, and appointments will be released in the days ahead.

The governor also announced on Tuesday that the MDH has secured an additional 1.8 million at-home rapid tests for Minnesota schools, on top of the initial one million announced last month.

The state’s free school testing options allow each school to determine the best testing strategy for them. 

Crystal | New Hope | Robbinsdale