Morris County Phasing Out At-Home COVID Tests Due To 'Hoarding'

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — Morris County will cut back on its recently introduced at-home coronavirus testing program. Soon the county will only offer at-home tests to homebound, symptomatic residents.

County officials launched free, home testing Dec. 5 for all residents and people who work in the county. But after introducing the program, officials found too many people "hoarded" the available tests. People have ordered about 16,300 at-home tests from the county, while only 7,500 have been returned, according to officials.

Context: Home COVID-19 Tests Now Available In Morris County

"The transition is necessary because more than 50 percent of the people who have ordered the at-home Vault tests have hoarded them, forcing authorities to focus Morris County’s limited COVID-19 testing resources on programs that are not as easily abused," said a press release from Morris County government.

The county government will instead focus more of its testing efforts on the walk-up service provided at the County College of Morris in Randolph. People must register online to get tested.

The change in testing protocols comes as New Jersey continues to wrestle with thousands of new COVID-19 cases per day. State officials have reported 4,500 or more new cases in four of seven days last week.

The Pixel at-home testing received support through a federal grant. But the county has fronted the costs for all of its Vault tests, which include the at-home tests and those available at the County College of Morris.

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County officials said they've received limited federal resources to fight the pandemic. The press release said the following:

"Morris County has received very limited aid under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to respond to the pandemic. It was one of 12 New Jersey counties left to fund their own COVID-19 pandemic response efforts last spring when $1 billion in direct CARES Act relief dollars was provided to nine other counties to share. The nine counties received from $87 million to as much as $162 million, while the rest of New Jersey received nothing.

"The CARES Act direct aid was conditioned on whether a county’s population, based on the 2010 Census, exceeded 500,000 residents. Morris County missed the mark by 7,724 residents, but worked with state and federal representatives, as well as the Governor’s office, to eventually secure more than $7 million in CARES dollars last August to pay for past testing efforts and continue testing programs into the New Year."

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