Giavonna LaMiller, under the direction of volunteer Catherine Parks, prepares to self-administer a COVID-19 test in the Bi-Mart parking lot, the site of a mass testing event in La Grande on Friday, Aug. 27, 2021.

LA GRANDE — As the omicron variant continues to spread and COVID-19 cases rise, local availability of at-home testing has reached a standstill.

Local pharmacies and stores have found their shelves empty as the demand for COVID-19 testing skyrocketed in recent weeks. As the self-testing kits remain backlogged, La Grande and Union County residents are faced with little options for at-home testing.

There has been a noticeable increase in positive COVID-19 cases in Union County since the holidays and start of 2022, a trend that coincides with a national uptick due to the omicron variant. In December 2021, the Oregon Health Authority reported just five days in which Union County’s daily case count reached double digits. Through Tuesday, Jan. 11, Union County’s case counts have been in double digits every day of the new year. The county has eclipsed 20 cases five times and recorded 102 total cases over the weekend of Jan. 9.

From small stores to national chains across La Grande, the once readily available at-home kits are nowhere to be found.

Rite Aid on Island Avenue sold out of kits on Jan. 9. The store clerk noted that the omicron-related spike in cases brought a large increase in sales of the kits in recent weeks. The employee stated that the pharmacy is expecting a shipment of at-home kits late Thursday night, which would allow the store to start selling the tests by the morning of Friday, Jan. 14. The store previously was able to keep a steady supply of take-home kits on the shelves, while refraining from conducting testing in the pharmacy.

At Rite Aid and other pharmacies, promised shipment days ultimately mean crossing your fingers and hoping for the best. This is the case at the Red Cross Drug Store in downtown La Grande, where the tests have been unavailable for days. Bi-Mart in La Grande is also out of take-home kits, but a store clerk said the staff was expecting a shipment in mid-January.

Larger stores like Walmart and Safeway are experiencing similar shortages of COVID-19 at-home tests. A Safeway employee said the staff is unsure when the next shipment of tests will come in, while Walmart’s pharmacy line states that over-the-counter tests can be ordered at the store’s website while supplies last. Several tests are listed on the store’s website, but all in-store options are marked as out of stock.

The spike in COVID-19 and subsequent shortage of testing supplies raised alarm from the Center for Human Development in La Grande, which released an update on the pandemic on Jan. 10.

“We have been notified by OHA that CHD will be receiving some at-home test kits for distribution to our community, but these kits can only be used for specific purposes (for populations disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and have not historically had access to COVID-19 testing, and persons who have a known exposure or have COVID-19-like symptoms),” the statement from CHD Public Health Director Carrie Brogoitti read.

The statement said the tests cannot be used for screening and that the shipment to CHD will not include enough to give one test to every Union County resident but the organization “will continue working with our partners to see if additional testing kits can be obtained and distributed.”

Weekly testing clinics are being held at the Union County Fairgrounds. The next testing event is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Jan. 18. Center for Human Development continues to hold drop-in vaccination clinics from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Friday, and appointments are available for the vaccine, according to its website.

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[EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been changed to reflect a correction. The original article stated that the testing hours at the Union County Fairgrounds are from noon to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 18. The testing event is currently scheduled for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Jan. 18.]