GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Brown County is preparing to do their part in flattening the curve of COVID-19.
A new potential testing site was introduced while everyone kept their social distance in the former Sears parking lot at the corner of Mason Street and Military Avenue on Monday.
“This site is part of a call from the healthcare system in response to if we all of a sudden had testing available – and helping manage the number of people going to the actual hospitals and trying to limit that exposure,” says County Executive Troy Streckenbach, “Community testing is ready to be activated if that type of response is required and testing supplies are made available by the state.”
The site currently consists of a large tent and crate – similar to sites already seen at hospitals around the area. Right now, it’s not operational for testing because the state has yet to provide equipment necessary for the county to start the process.
“When the testing does become available and where the testing turnaround time is improved, we’ll be able to open this up and do a lot larger sampling of the community,” Streckenbach says, “We need to take our part and start to do what is necessary for us to protect our community. And this is just another example of why we can take this and move forward as a community by making every measure we can.”
The county has also preemptively activated the Emergency Operati ons Center to coordinate the response throughout the community. There are currently about 700 county employees working from home, while over 900 are considered essential services.
“The problem is just having adequate supplies to even get the samples collected. I know there are approvals that are still pending on certain tests that could be done for us locally,” says Brown County Health and Human Services Director Erik Pritzl.
The county has recently acquired an isolation and quarantine facility, which is currently housing 35 guests who are being monitored for the virus. They are working on a second site as well. The locations are not being disclosed to provide the individuals some level of privacy. Those facilities provide food, shelter, medical followups, and behavioral healthcare on site for those in quarantine.
