This past Friday and Saturday in Adel, the Iowa Department of Public Health partnered with the 831st Engineer Company of the Iowa National Guard to provide free COVID-19 testing for long-term care facility staff.

The program is called the Testing Strike Team, and this was the first time it’s been offered in central Iowa. The mission is to provide testing for local medical support personnel from retirement homes and care facilities in the area. Over the two-day program, the Strike Team provided approximately 175 tests at the Dallas County Fairgrounds in Adel. The testing was conducted by IDPH staff, and the soldiers were on hand to provide logistics and traffic control.

Organizers of the program feel it’s important to monitor the people entrusted with caring for the most vulnerable members of the population, which was what the Testing Strike Team is all about. The program is supported by the long-term care testing initiative activated in response to outbreaks at nursing home facilities across Iowa, including four in Dallas County.