Press Release
Washburn County Health Department announced today that local public health departments in northern Wisconsin have requested assistance from the WI National Guard to scale up COVID- 19 testing.
Washburn County Health Department and Emergency Management are partnering with Douglas County and Bayfield County to host a community “drive-up” specimen collection site in Solon Springs on Wednesday, May 6th, 2020 from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm.
Anyone 5 years and older with any of the following symptoms are eligible for nasal swab testing: fever, cough, loss of taste/smell, shortness of breath, sore throat, fatigue, body aches, diarrhea, vomiting or nausea, chills, shaking with chills, or muscle aches. You do not have to be screened for COVID-19 prior to arriving at this testing site.
This is a test to determine if you currently have COVID-19 disease. Testing through the collection site will be free of cost and is only available to Wisconsin residents, including residents of other Wisconsin counties. The goal is to test up to 250 people throughout the day.
The drive-through collection site will be held at the Solon Springs Community Center at 11523 S. Business Hwy 53 with cars lining up from the north end of Business 53. Please have patience and drive with caution. Follow directions for entering the line and completing paperwork. The nasal swab test will be obtained while the person remains in their car.
Following testing, people should return directly home and isolate themselves until they receive their test results and further guidance from Public Health. Every person who is tested will be informed of their results by phone.
Providing a mass COVID-19 testing site offers a better understanding of the presence of the virus in our communities. This will only be a moment-in-time snapshot of its current activity but will be an important part of the story.
“If we get positive cases through this event, we will be able to isolate those people and trace their contacts to stop further spread in our communities. A lack of positive cases as a result of this event doesn’t mean we’re in the clear- it means we are doing a great job of social distancing and need to continue doing so as we use this data to explore safely reopening activities” said Cheri Nickell, Washburn County Health Officer.
There are plans for additional testing sites throughout the Western Region of Wisconsin over the next few weeks. These testing sites will be added to the Western WI Public Health Readiness
Consortium webpage: http://wwphrc.org/covid-19-community-testing. The Washburn County Health Department is a member of the Western WI Public Health Readiness Consortium.
Updates, including forms for testing, will be added to our website. We recommend checking for these updates prior to arriving at the testing site at https://www.co.washburn.wi.us/news/public- health/Coronavirus-Outbreak
More information about COVID-19 and resources for Washburn County residents are available at https://www.co.washburn.wi.us/news/public-health/Coronavirus-Outbreak and on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/WashburnCoHealthDept/
Call the Health Department at 715-635-4400 during normal business hours with questions or email us at health@co.washburn.wi.us
Last Update: May 01, 2020 12:14 pm CDT
