ST. PAUL, Minn. – Governor Tim Walz is sending National Guard soldiers to Crookston, Hutchinson and Stillwater to assist local public health agencies with Covid testing. The deployment will be next week. Walz said he hopes to expand Guard support for testing in an additional three cities the following week. The soldiers are part of a new Community Rapid Testing initiative using antigen tests that provide results in a matter of minutes. The tests, he said will help families with school-age children who until recently weren’t cleared federally for Covid vaccines. Walz’ Guard deployment is a part of a multi-prong initiative to get on top of a new Covid surge. Walz also:
> Put the Guard on alert to provide emergency staffing at long-term care facilities that are shorthanded.
> Authorized the state Human Services Department to coordinate creating more space at long-term care facilities to relieve overtaxed hospital capacity.
Currently 1,000 Covid patients are hospitalized in the state, 250 of them in intensive care units.