Three Nashville coronavirus testing sites have been ready to receive patients for a week but remain unable to open due to an ongoing lack of test materials.

The sites are across from Nissan Stadium, a former K-Mart on Murfreesboro Pike and a yet-to-be disclosed location. These sites were envisioned to offer free medical assessments and drive-thru testing to residents of Davidson County, which leads Tennessee in coronavirus cases.

Journalists were invited to tour the Murfreesboro Pike site last week in preparation for what appeared to be an approaching launch, but as the virus has spread, that launch has never come.

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Dr. Alex Jahangir, who leads Nashville’s coronavirus task force, said Thursday that tents have been erected, personal protective equipment is gathered and medical staff are prepped to begin work at the three sites. The only missing ingredient is testing swabs that are used to collect samples from patients’ nose and throat, he said.

“What we need are the tests,” Jahangir said. “Every single day, many times a day, we’ve spoken with our state partners, the unified command, and I’ve called private labs. There is not a stone that we are not turning over to get these tests.”

The limited supply of coronavirus testing materials has hindered the response to coronavirus both in Tennessee and nationwide. As the virus began to spread to America, mass testing was delayed for weeks, and government labs were forced to set a high bar for who was tested due to a limited supply. Private laboratories have made testing far more available in the past two weeks, and the White House now insists the U.S. has a growing test supply and is leading the world in coronavirus testing.

“We’re testing more than anybody right now,” President Donald Trump said Wednesday. “There’s nobody even close. And our tests are the best tests. They’re the most accurate tests.”

Gov. Bill Lee on Wednesday called Tennessee a “proportional leader” in testing and said the state government was investing in additional test materials and expanding testing capacity.

“I believe that it is one of the most important things we can do to blunt the severity and the onset of the surge in cases across Tennessee,” Lee said.

As of Thursday afternoon, state health officials had tallied 957 cases of coronavirus and three virus-related deaths across Tennessee. The largest count of cases is in Nashville, where city officials announced the virus had been detected in 293 residents, including new cases in a 2-month-old baby and 94-year-old person.

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The 'front lines' of coronavirus defense

The testing centers planned by the metro government are supposed to be key defense against the further spread of the virus. As envisioned, the centers would receive people who have virus-like symptoms and have them questioned by a team of medical professionals. If this assessment suggests they may have the virus, staff would collect a test sample on a throat swab while the patient remains in their car to minimize exposure. The swab would then be sent to a laboratory to check for the virus.

Dr. James Hildreth, an infectious disease expert who leads Meharry Medical College, said the assessment sites and the medical professionals who work there would be "on the front lines" of the virus response.

“I want people to know the assessment centers are ready to go,” Hildreth said. “The only reasons we are not opening them up is because we can’t get sufficient supplies ..."

Brian Todd, a spokesman for the Metro Health Department, confirmed the assessment centers have been "ready and secured" for a week. Jahangir said Wednesday the city was “eager” to open the sites and asked for donations to help get them open.

He added on Thursday the sites now had enough protective equipment to operate for "a reasonable duration of time" but are still desperate for testing materials. He did not provide an estimate on when test kits would be obtained.

The city’s testing centers may not be operational, but Nashville has not been left defenseless. Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the largest and most sophisticated hospital in the city, has set up four similar sites for testing and assessing patients, according to a list of testing sites published by the state.

As of Thursday morning, about 3,300 people in Davidson County had been tested, Jahangir said.

“We have some amazing facilities right here in town, that are assessing people,” he said. “People are being assessed – people are being taken care of – we just want to augment that for all our residents.”

HOW TO DONATE

The Nashville city government is collecting supplies for its coronavirus assessment centers at a Community Resource Center at 218 Omohundro Place. The city is in desperate need of test materials and protective equipment.

Brett Kelman is the health care reporter for The Tennessean. He can be reached at 615-259-8287 or at brett.kelman@tennessean.com. Follow him on Twitter at @brettkelman.

Yihyun Jeong covers politics in Nashville for USA TODAY NETWORK - TENNESSEE. Reach her at yjeong@tennessean.com and follow her on Twitter @yihyun_jeong.