2020 had the largest sustained domestic mobilization of Wisconsin National Guard in history. //end headline wrapper ?>Get a daily rundown of the top stories on Urban Milwaukee
Members of the Wisconsin National Guard load boxes with hand warmers and PPE on Monday, Dec. 21, 2020, before distributing them to COVID-19 testing sites across the state. Angela Major/WPR
There’s a warehouse in Madison full of personal protective equipment (PPE). It contains everything the Wisconsin National Guard needs to safely and effectively respond to the COVID-19 pandemic: nitrile gloves, N95 masks, hand sanitizer, coronavirus test kits, and more. Chief Warrant Officer 2
Matt Hipp has overseen the warehouse since the beginning of June.
MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin National Guard specimen collection teams will gather COVID-19 specimens Monday through Wednesday this week due to the New Year’s holiday.
Teams have collected a cumulative total of nearly 990,000 specimens at community-based testing sites and institutional-based testing missions. The Wisconsin National Guard’s collection activities support the Wisconsin Department of Health Service’s efforts to expand COVID-19 testing throughout the entire state.
The teams, which are tailorable to meet the needs of a specific facility or community, are dispatched from a larger task force of several hundred Citizen Soldiers and Airmen. They have established mobile testing sites since early April at locations ranging from correctional facilities, health clinics and institutional facilities, to private businesses, senior-living facilities, and community-based testing sites.