Community COVID-19 testing held in Medford

Members of the Wisconsin National Guard held a community testing site in Medford on Tuesday. Results from the tests won’t be released until later this week when the samples come back from the testing lab in Madison.

National Guard crews are being deployed around the state on an ongoing basis to hold community testing sites. While assigned to the task of taking the samples and ensuring their secure delivery to the testing lab, the citizen soldiers of the National Guard come from a variety of workplace backgrounds.

The call-up for the testing sites is being funded through Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds and for some guard members has lasted longer than the 90 days needed to be considered an active duty deployment.

The guard members were assisted by the staff of Taylor County Health Department and emergency management staff . Originally the testing was to be done outdoors, however with the threat of rain and the availability of the dairy barn at the fairgrounds, the decision was made to set up inside. The set up allowed for two lanes of traffic as those participating stayed in their vehicles at all time.

(Above) A guard member deposits the used testing swab into a bag that is secured and recorded with the information from the testing participant.

(Right) While some crew members were administering the tests others were taking information from the long line of those seeking the free testing.

(Below) Employees of the Taylor County Health Department wore protective gear including N95 masks, goggles and face shields to help collect information at the testing site held at the fairgrounds on Tuesday.