As I was making my way around Cottage Grove delivering papers Wednesday, October 14th, I needed to stop at the Post Office. When I was about to turn off Jamaica, I noticed there was some action at Firehouse number four, so I went to investigate. It turns out, Washington County is partnering with various agencies around the county to offer free COVID testing. Wednesday, October 14th happened to be one of the test days for Cottage Grove.

When I hopped out to talk to the staff, they were very kind and open about the testing procedures. Dave Brummel, Deputy Director for Public Health with Washington County, explained the setup, “We partnered with the City of Cottage Grove and their Fire Department to put on today’s testing event.” Brummel then described as much as he could about the testing that Washington County is working on setting up and how well testing went that day. There are additional testing dates in the works, dates and locations need to be finalized yet. Based on the success of todays testing, he expects the program to work really well.

The event was from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and while not required, appointments were suggested at the start of the event. People could pre-register online for the event which made their time in line much shorter, but drive ups were welcome. There are no future dates for free testing on the books, but “We are in the process of finalizing our dates,” Brummel said. The primary partner for this event was the South Washington School District, so when the dates are finalized, expect to find them on the various social media platforms for the county or the City of Cottage Grove.

Why am I writing this as though I was directly involved instead of writing it like a reporter? Simple. HIPPA laws are pretty strict for any medical information stream. The concern of this event was, can I take pictures of any participants and not get anyone in trouble? After discussing that, we decided it would be more fun. . . wait, is fun the right word for this? Well, it would be easier if I just went through the test and had my picture taken for the paper, where I can just give my permission to print the picture without causing any issues, so I AM directly involved in the story. So here is my permission, I give the Cottage Grove Journal permission to print my testing picture and I do not hold Washington County or the City of Cottage Grove responsible for it’s release. That sounds official, right?

Deputy Chief for CG Fire John Pritchard gave me a little update of the days testing and how things would go.

“We’ve tested about 220-225 people so far,” he said. This was as of 1:50 p.m. “People have been very thankful as they come through. Just very thankful for having accessibility to testing. In Washington county, there are not many clinics doing it.” Pritchard added.

The variety of the ages of people tested was varied too. “We’ve [tested] people of all ages, from children to older adults. A lot of brave kids out there during the test,” Pritchard pointed out. We discussed the test, I’m happy to say, it was not the ‘tickle your brain’ type of test, it was still a nasal swab, but not the long stemmed one. “It’s much more comfortable than the other one, but definitely an awkward feeling,” Pritchard chuckled.

OK, time to buck up and get in line. I hop in my truck and get in the queue. The longest part was the registration portion. The volunteers use a smart device to access the website and enter your information. Other volunteers come by with a consent form for you to sign and information packet about the test. They also give you a fresh mask, so don’t put a new one on like I did as you pull up, they do make you put on the new one.

After a few minutes of getting registered, I’m directed around the driveway into the back of the fire station and I pull up to where the testers are. Pritchard is my tester, and he goes over the procedures one more time. “Most people tear up a little,” he laughs. First, he hits the right nostril, then the left and after what felt like an eternity, all done. In all seriousness, it was probably six seconds. He sits a few second and waits.

“It wasn’t that bad…” then BOOOOOM! My eyes open up like a broken dam.

We both start laughing as Pritchard says, “I was wondering if I hit the right spot, now I know I did,” as he continues to laugh. I pull out of the fire station garage slowly because I still cannot see clearly, give it 30 seconds and I’m good to go park. After about a minute, I’m back to not looking like I am bawling my eyes out, so I can go do a follow-up conversation.

The biggest thing officials with the testing site wanted people to know was how easy and quick it can be. I think the whole process took 10 minutes total, and they really did slow it down for me to be able to document it for you. After I finished talking with the officials, another gentleman named Bob had just completed the test, so I asked for his opinion, “EASY!” he said, then he told me how he heard about it and why he came in for the test, but I felt that information is private enough to not include. FYI, Bob’s eyes did not water the way mine did.

The testing is ultimately coordinated by the Minnesota Emergency Operations Center and for this site, the testing was being done at Mayo Clinic. All the tests were picked up by couriers and brought directly to Mayo for processing. I had the test about 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon and I had the results in my email by 7:06 a.m. Friday morning. Keep in mind, each testing site could be different, so the results may come back faster or may take longer to get to you, that is something you will have to discuss the day of the test. The bottom line is, if you think you may have been exposed, or if you are a crazy journalist willing to sacrifice your body for the story, get tested, it’s not that bad, and who knows, you may end up protecting people from getting COVID.