By Shereen Siewert
A drive-up coronavirus testing event last week in Abbotsford has so far resulted in 31 positive COVID-19 cases with additional test results pending, health officials said Tuedsay.
The Marathon County and Clark County Health Departments tested 411 people during the July 9-10 event, with the aid of the Wisconsin National Guard and Family Health/La Clinica.
As of Tuesday, 304 people in Marathon County have tested positive for the virus, up 11 from the day before. Clark County has 118 cases as of Tuesday with seven fatalities.
Patients who attended the Abbotsford event will be contacted by a public health staff member to talk them through next steps.
Marathon County Health Officer Joan Theurer said accessible testing is a key strategy in controlling the spread of COVID-19.
“It’s important to have testing available to anyone who believes they may have been exposed,” Theurer said.
Symptoms of the virus include fever, cough, loss of taste or smell, shortness of breath, sore throat, fatigue, body aches, diarrhea, vomiting or nausea, chills and/or muscle aches.
Until results are delivered, the health departments ask that all symptomatic individuals stay home and refrain from attending, work, school, church, or any other public event and to self-quarantine.
Results are generally available in 3-7 days and participants are strongly encouraged to pick up the phone for unknown numbers during that time, as it may be their COVID-test results.
Those individuals who were not experiencing symptoms and were not identified by public health as a close contact can resume activity as normal after testing, using social distancing guidelines.
Close contacts to positive cases will be contacted by the health department and will be asked to quarantine until the risk of infection has passed.
Theurer said health officials aimed to provide communities with mass testing while giving public health a better insight into how widespread the virus is in the area.
