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Over the course of the next week, Milwaukee health officials are making significant changes to the county's COVID-19 community testing sites.
Yesterday, the Milwaukee Health Department opened up two new locations that will offer free COVID-19 tests:
- Northwest Health Center (7630 W. Mill Rd.)
- Southside Health Center (1639 S. 23rd St.)
The two sites that are being run by Wisconsin National Guard personnel—Custer Stadium (4300 W. Fairmount Ave.) on the north side and UMOS (2710 S. Chase Ave) on the south side—will conclude testing on Saturday, Oct. 17.
The closure is timed with the National Guard's planned drawdown of COVID-19 testing personnel in Milwaukee.
A centralized community testing site at Miller Park (1 Brewers Way) will open on Monday, Oct. 19. Wisconsin National Guard members will assist with the transition to local staffing at the testing sites. As local staffing increases, the Miller Park site will remain a central hub, accompanied by several other sites throughout the community.
The changes were also made to ensure the sites will be operable as we head into winter. The central testing site at Miller Park will be a temporary structure in a parking lot off Miller Park Way that will be weatherized to protect staff and residents. It will include six drive-through lanes for testing and walk-in testing. Testing at the Northwest Health Center will be done in the detached parking garage and a heated tent is being put up in the parking lot of the Southside Health Center.
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“Milwaukee is grateful to Governor Evers and the Wisconsin National Guard for their support and hard work to keep two community testing sites up and running for the past five months,” said Mayor Tom Barrett. “Thanks to their service, we were able to increase testing capacity in areas impacted the most by COVID-19 and provide tens of thousands of tests to our residents.”
“Milwaukee County is eager to support our municipal health departments in standing up no-barrier testing sites in their communities,” said Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. “Especially as we approach the winter months, we encourage the public to continue getting tested for COVID-19. It’s the best way to understand the impact of this virus on our community and decrease transmission.”
The central community testing site joins 22 other COVID-19 testing sites throughout Milwaukee County. In addition to a handful of pharmacies, residents on the city’s north and south sides can find ample COVID testing access at drive thru and walk up testing sites by appointment at community health centers and health system locations. Residents should call 2-1-1 or visit TestUpMKE to find a testing location.
