GREEN BAY, Wis — With the latest surge in confirmed COVID-19 cases in Brown county, local leaders are trying to increase the availability of testing across the community.
At the intersection of Military Avenue and Mason Street in Green Bay, the first community testing site for potential COVID-19 patients in the county is preparing to open. But according to county leaders due to a lack of test kits available and a lack of protective gear for medical workers, the testing site can't be opened yet.
County Executive Troy Streckenbach says sites like this could help hospitals decrease their crowds in the near future if they are overwhelmed with people coming to their offices. But the reality today, according to Brown County Public Health officials, is that hospitals and health care facilities are having a hard time meeting their own needs.
Brown County Health and Human Services Executive Director, Erik Pritzl, says while all of the critical needs for healthcare workers have been met as far PPE needs are concerned today, there is a concern about stockpiles of the needed items depleting.
"So far we're able to meet the need, but I think moving forward we're always concerned what will this look like in one to two weeks," says Pritzl.
On Monday morning Brown County Executive, Troy Streckenbach said that with state and federal assistance Brown County could be prepared to construct more makeshift testing sites within a matter of 24-hours.
"I'm calling on state and federal government to follow through with their promises, helping us distribute more PPE and test kits so that we can go live with this community test site. Those vital supplies are what currently stands between Brown county caring for its residents and protecting our emergency responders and healthcare workers," says Streckenbach.
As of Monday afternoon, Pritzl adds that his department has acquired a warehouse to attempt to stockpile personal protection equipment, for those on the front lines of the pandemic. His department reported that right now, Brown County Public Health has a reported 888 COVID-19 tests conducted in Brown County, with 45 of those tests coming back positive.
