Brett Bachtle
Created: June 18, 2020 05:54 PM
(ABC 6 News) - As cases of COVID-19 continue to climb in Mower County, the Mower County Emergency Operation Center and Public Health are teaming up with the Minnesota Department of Health to offer free mass coronavirus testing this weekend.
Any Mower County resident is eligible to be tested, even if they don't have any symptoms.
“We don’t collect any kind of insurance information and if there is any fear someone’s undocumented, we don’t take any of that kind of information. That’s not what our purpose is. It’s really just to get people tested,” said Community Health Division Manager Pam Kellogg.
The testing isn’t just limited to Mower County residents.
“If you come from outside of our county, you’ll certainly be accepted. We’ll take North Iowa, we’ll take people from Albert Lea, wherever they come, as long as there are spots, we’ll take you,” Kellogg said.
Kellogg strongly encourages businesses to take advantage of the free testing and to get their employees tested. The tests performed this weekend will be less invasive than the traditional nasopharyngeal test.
“People are complaining about the invasive tests and they are not wanting to get it done. We don’t want anyone to not come out of fear,” said Kellogg.
The testing site launched to test employees of Hormel and QPP will take a break this weekend, while Mayo Clinic’s testing site will continue to accept symptomatic patients.
You can get tested this weekend at the Mower County Fairgrounds from 11 A.M. until 6 P.M. on Saturday and Sunday.
Public health says about 400 people have signed up to be tested so far. They have a goal to test around 1,000 people each day.
If you would like to get tested, you are encouraged to pre-register for a time slot online by clicking here or by calling 1-800-657-3903.
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