Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts said last week he’s “very pleased” with a coronavirus testing program established by out-of-state contractors, despite uncertainty that it will meet a goal of 3,000 tests per day by the month’s end.

Nebraska announced the $27 million, no-bid contract with Utah-based Nomi Health and other firms on April 21. They hoped to hit the testing target within five weeks.

TestNebraska conducted just 1,197 tests last Tuesday, said Dr. Gary Anthone, the state’s chief medical officer. That’s an increase since the beginning of May, when the program was averaging about 337 tests per day.

Ricketts has said last Wednesday that he still believes the program will reach its goal “at some point,” but backed away from earlier stated goals.

“We’re pushing the team hard to get that done by the end of the month, but a lot of that will depend on people signing up,” he said at a news conference.

Ricketts said the problem stems in part from residents who qualify for a test after filling out an online questionnaire, but don’t show up as scheduled. As many as 15% of the people who are deemed eligible are no-shows, he said.

The state also hadn’t yet launched all of its mobile testing sites. State employees and members of the Nebraska National Guard had been administering the tests at four mobile stations, with plans to open two more.

The program has faced criticism from some state lawmakers, who questioned why Nebraska wasn’t spending the money on local testing resources. Ricketts has defended the contract, arguing the state is already using the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the state public health lab for testing and both have reached their capacity.

“I’ve been very pleased with the results so far with TestNebraska,” Ricketts said, adding that it was “absolutely” worth the money.

A state lawmaker who has criticized the contract sent a follow-up letter to Ricketts, saying some hard-hit areas still aren’t getting the tests they need.

“I recognize that TestNebraska was an opportunity to ramp up mass testing quickly, but it seems there is a disconnect between that testing program and the emergent needs in communities across the state,” said Omaha Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh.

Nebraskans are encouraged to sign up for TestNebraska if they haven’t yet at testnebraska.com.