Omicron strains test kit sharing

COVID-19 home rapid test kits are seen on a shelf at a Walmart Neighborhood Market in Orlando, Florida. Walmart and Kroger are raising the price for the hard-to-find BinaxNOW rapid tests after the directive from the White House to sell them at cost has expired. Test kits that were formerly sold for $14 will now retail for $19.88 at Walmart and $23.99 at Kroger. Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

In a few short months, states have gone from donating surplus rapid covid-19 tests to states with shortages to hoarding them as demand driven by the spike in cases strains supplies.

Last January, North Dakota had amassed 2.7 million Abbott Laboratories BinaxNOW rapid covid tests from the federal government — roughly 3½ tests for each person in the state of 775,000 people.