APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) – A new COVID-19 testing site is being implemented at Appleton North High School.
City and county officials worked together with the Wisconsin National Guard to set up the drive-thru facility in the parking lot between the school and Paul Engen Field, along East Ashbury Drive.
“This is a National Guard supported screening, so there’s no cost to the user to come out there to Appleton North to take advantage of this,” said Appleton Health Officer Kurt Eggebrecht. “We are looking to attract those who are symptomatic and people who have been identified by local health departments as close contacts of someone who tested positive as our priority for screening.”
But for those close contacts, Eggebrecht recommends not getting tested immediately after exposure.
“Your body needs a little time for that virus to produce and the quantity that you would yourself which at and therefore test positive by the test that’s being performed…If you go too soon, you’ll get a negative result. Which will give you perhaps information that would lead you to believe that you yourself haven’t contracted the disease,” Eggebrecht explained. “By waiting until day 5 to 7, you will give yourself a better opportunity for that test result to be more accurate.”
Another reason for the site is to reduce the workload for surrounding areas. Hours-long lines have been reported at the Sunnyview Expo Center testing site in Oshkosh, and there are hopes to alleviate some of those numbers.
“Our health departments have been working very closely throughout the whole pandemic. This is just another example of recognizing that there have been long wait times at the Oshkosh location, so it was important to bring additional resources into the area,” Eggebrecht said.
Calumet County is also adding a testing site for people in the ‘Tri-County’ and Appleton area to utilize.
The site is limited to accepting around 300 vehicles per day. While there may be traffic concerns due to the high volume of traffic on roads around the school, there is a plan in place to reduce issues.
“We’ve had a traffic control study done by our local law enforcement which is helpful in terms of making sure we don’t back up any major arteries in the community,” Eggebrecht told WTAQ News. “It seemed to be moving rather quickly and smoothly much of the time I was out there.”
The site will be open through this Saturday. Following that, it will be open from 8 am-4 pm, Monday-Wednesday. It will run through December 9th, with the exception of the week of Thanksgiving. The hard cutoff date is due to Title 32 authorization from the president to utilize the National Guard in that capacity. Another authorization would be required to extend that service.
Meanwhile, if the school were to return to session prior to the scheduled end date, the testing site would be moved to another area.
The City of Appleton confirmed it’s 18th COVID-related death Thursday afternoon.
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