Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

In coordination with Minnesota Department of Health, 21 members of the Minnesota National Guard will start actioning Gov. Tim Walz’s plan to increase testing throughout the state by using mobile testing teams at long-term care facilities, according to a press release. This mobile testing is part of the five-point plan laid out by the governor to combat COVID-19 in Minnesota’s long-term care facilities.

“The Minnesota National Guard has been assisting state agencies with logistics and planning efforts up to this point,” said Maj. Gen. Jon Jensen, Minnesota National Guard adjutant general.  “With these new missions our efforts shift to more directly assist those on the front lines of the COVID-19 fight.”

The mobile testing teams will be made up of a combination of Army and Air National guardsmen, each team will have 10 members assigned. The Minnesota National Guard will start with two teams this week and will expand those numbers as needed in weeks to come.  Locations will focus on long-term care facilities, where they will test residents and employees.

This testing is designed to reduce the spread by identifying those who are infected so they can be isolated. This isolation will decrease the risk of spread in these facilities of greatest concern.

For more information, contact the Minnesota National Guard public affairs office at 507-282-4410 or mn.ng.web@mail.mil.