(BLAINE) – The Victory Links Golf Course parking lot at the National Sports Center will become a temporary COVID-19 testing site starting Monday December 7. Testing will be available every day through Saturday December 12. State officials hope to test as many as 10,000 people over those six days. The site will be open for testing from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.
According to a Minnesota Department of Health press statement, the site will be set up as a drive through with participants self-administering a nasal swab test. Appointments are strongly encouraged, but not required.
The pop-up test site is part of a federal effort to provide support in areas that have seen a recent spike in COVID-19 cases. Anoka County has reported more than 22,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There have been 238 reported COVID deaths in Anoka County. That’s the third highest in the state behind Hennepin and Ramsey counties.
“Testing is a key component of our strategy to protect Minnesotans from COVID-19,” said Minnesota Commissioner of Health Jan Malcolm. “Through a robust, collaborative statewide testing program, we have made great progress in removing obstacles to testing. When combined with social distancing, masking, avoiding crowds and staying home when sick, testing can help us slow the spread of COVID-19.”
The National Guard is providing site management and traffic control. A federal contractor, eTrueNorth, is providing online registration, test kits, test processing and notification of lab results. Participants will be notified of test results via email within 3 to 5 days.
“Having the testing event at the National Sports Center in Blaine will truly enhance our testing capacity,” said Jonelle Hubbard, director of Anoka County Public Health. Testing is also being offered at the Anoka Armory through the end of January.
In Blaine, testing is open to anyone who believes they need a COVID-19 test, with or without insurance. You can register at: https://www.doineedacovid19test.com/
Test results results can be found by logging into the same portal after you get an email notification that results are ready.
