The ongoing baby formula shortage that is frustrating parents all across the country has gone from bad to worse over the past week, according to a new report by Bloomberg, citing retail tracking data.

According to Datasembly, which tracks 130,000 stores nationwide, out-of-stock rates were sitting at 74 percent nationally for the week ending May 28. The figure was at 70 percent for the week ending May 21 and 45 percent the week prior.

Currently, ten states now have out-of-stock rates at 90 percent or higher. They include Arizona, Mississippi, California, Nevada, Tennessee, Rhode Island, Louisiana, Florida, Washington, and Georgia. Furthermore, there are now fourteen metro areas with 90 percent or higher out-of-stock rates, including Atlanta, Phoenix, San Antonio, Oahu, Houston, Memphis, Jacksonville, Orlando, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Miami, New Orleans/Mobile, and Sacramento.

The nationwide baby formula shortage largely stems from the shuttering of a Michigan-based Abbott Nutrition facility because of a bacterial contamination. After detecting positive samples of rare but dangerous bacteria in multiple parts of the plant, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided to close the facility. The company announced a massive recall of its formula in mid-February.

“We knew that ceasing plant operations would create supply problems, but we had no choice given the insanitary conditions,” Dr. Robert Califf, the commissioner of the FDA, stated in his testimony last week before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.

“You can’t just open a plant with bacteria growing in it. Would you go in a kitchen next door if there was bacteria growing all over the place and standing water and people tromping through with mud on their feet?” he continued.

Abbott boasts about a 40-percent share of the U.S. baby formula market, with the Michigan facility being responsible for 40 percent of the company’s U.S. production. The company plans to resume production at its plant on June 4 and begin shipping out its specialty formula EleCare on June 20.

For much of the past month, federal and local regulators have been taking steps to increase the supply of baby formula on store shelves. On Wednesday, during a White House roundtable on the crisis, President Joe Biden admitted that he was not alerted that the country was confronting a looming baby formula shortage until April.

“I don't think anybody anticipated the impact of one facility—of the Abbott facility,” Biden said. “Once we learned of the extent of it and how broad it was, we kicked everything into gear.”

Despite Biden’s comments about not being informed of the baby formula crisis, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that the administration started acting within days of the plant’s closure.

“We have been working on this for months, for months,” she said. “We have been taking this incredibly seriously.”

Ethen Kim Lieser is a Washington state-based Finance and Tech Editor who has held posts at Google, The Korea Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, AsianWeek, and Arirang TV. Follow or contact him on LinkedIn.

Image: Reuters.