From 9am to 3pm on Saturday, August 8th, the Brown County Health Department, the Ohio National Guard Southwest Region, and more than a dozen volunteers from the community set up shop in the Georgetown High School parking lot.

“We’ve offered the service and our public has asked for it,” said Margery Paeltz.

193 people were tested during the event. 15 positive results came back, six from Brown County and seven others from surrounding counties. Seven other results are pending. The rest of the tests were negative.

Paeltz, the Emergency Response Coordinator for Brown County, said that workers were in Georgetown several hours before 9 o’clock to set up canopies, place cones and materials, and prepare for the event. Volunteers in vests, N95 masks, and latex gloves directed traffic through the stations. Visitors were first given a form to fill out some basic contact information.

“We just want the truth,” stated Medical Director Todd Williams. “If you have it, there are precautions you need to take. And if you don’t know you have it, you can’t take them.”

Williams said that some people discouraged the testing, as higher numbers might have a negative impact on the perception of Brown County or even the state of Ohio. But he explained that viruses do not go away because people ignore them. “That’s just not the way it works. There’s a lot of misinformation out there and a lot of misunderstanding out there,” he said.

Those tested never had to leave their vehicles. After returning the completed paperwork, any clipboards or other objects they touched were thoroughly sanitized while drivers proceeded to the final station.

“We’ll be calling everybody with the results,” said Paeltz. “Positive or negative, we’re going to call everybody on the phone to let them know.”

The Ohio National Guard Southwest Region includes the area between Brown, Hamilton, Mercer, and Champaign Counties. 20-25 medics and other guardsmen from several units administered tests from their drive-thru station. A nasal swap – ten seconds in each nostril – was collected and sealed. Most visitors could get through the entire process in less than ten minutes.

By Monday afternoon, the Brown County Health Department received all the results and were making phone calls. Paeltz was grateful to the Ohio National Guard for coordinating the event, and explained that their resources would be key to future testing at the same scale.

Williams reasoned that operations like the one on Saturday can certainly save lives. “There’s been – what – 160,000 Americans die. And every one of them caught it from somebody,” he observed. “The whole purpose of this is to try not to add to that number.”

To contact the Brown County Health Department, call (937)378-6892 .