Coronavirus patients are pouring into hospitals across the American South and West, straining front-line doctors and nurses and draining supplies of protective gear and testing equipment, according to health-care workers throughout the country.

WASHINGTON - As Abbott Laboratories began shipping its new rapid-response tests across the country Wednesday, a new flashpoint emerged in the nation's handling of the pandemic: where to ship the covid-19 diagnostics that could be one of the most effective tools in combating the outbreak.