Wisconsin National Guard Nears One Million COVID-19 Tests

ACROSS WISCONSIN— Wisconsin National Guard specimen collection teams will break the one million mark this week for COVID-19 tests collected since April 2020.

Teams have collected a cumulative total of nearly 996,000 specimens at community-based testing sites and institutional-based testing missions. The Wisconsin National Guard’s collection activities support the Wisconsin Department of Health Service’s efforts to expand COVID-19 testing throughout the entire state.

A Wisconsin National Guard specimen collection team operates a community-based testing site in South Milwaukee in Milwaukee County at 1525 Tenth Ave. The site is open each Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday between Oct. 23 and Mar. 10 and has gathered over 3,200 specimens as of Jan. 4.

A community-based testing site operates at the Racine County Fairgrounds in Union Grove each Wednesday between Jan. 6 and Mar. 10. A second site operates at Festival Hall in Racine each Thursday between Jan. 7 and Mar. 4.

The teams, which are tailorable to meet the needs of a specific facility or community, are dispatched from a larger task force of several hundred Citizen Soldiers and Airmen. They have established mobile testing sites since early April at locations ranging from correctional facilities, health clinics and institutional facilities, to private businesses, senior-living facilities, and community-based testing sites.

Most community-based testing sites across the state are conducted on a regularly scheduled basis. All visitors seeking a test at these sites are urged to contact their local health department for more information about a particular testing day.

Those seeking a test at a Wisconsin National Guard community-based specimen collection site are urged to register online in advance using the Dynamics Testing and Registration Application (DTRA) program, which is also known as COVID Connect.

After collecting the specimens at each site, the test kits are sent to a lab for analysis, and individual citizens receive their results via an email or a phone call within three-to-seven days following the test.

The Wisconsin National Guard experienced an unprecedented year in 2020 of assisting Wisconsin residents and local officials respond to COVID-19, election worker support and civil disturbance support operations.

Nearly 700 Citizen Soldiers and Airmen from the Wisconsin National Guard are currently serving in direct support of the state’s on-going response to COVID-19 in a variety of statuses.