Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Zachariah DeYoung, doctor at the Upper Great Lakes Family Health Center,  demonstrates the nasal swab testing method for COVID-19 on April 29, on Greg Peterson, practice manager at UGL. UGL will host free drive-through testing for the general public launched this weekend.

HOUGHTON — As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the community, residents will have an opportunity for free testing Saturday at Michigan Technological University.

The free drive-up testing will be available from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Gates Tennis Center at 600 MacInnes Drive.

People can get the test without registering beforehand. No insurance, prescription or doctor’s order is needed. Participants are encouraged to bring a driver’s license or photo ID.

The event is a collaboration between Michigan Technological University, the National Guard, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department (WUPHD).

Kate Beer, health officer for the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department, said the department had reached out to the Michigan National Guard due to the high number of cases being seeing in the area.

“We’re looking to expand the testing in our community to provide free testing in the area and alleviate pressure on the health care providers in our area for doing all those tests,” she said.

It is hoped at least 500 people will get tested Saturday, Beer said. Results will hopefully come back by Tuesday or Wednesday. Those who get tested will be able to access their results at an online portal set up by whichever lab performs the tests.

Beer said they should be able to schedule further testing dates with the National Guard if needed. One complication will be the cold weather coming, she said.

“It’s difficult to do these outside test sites, and we’re looking at other facilities we could hold these events at,” she said.

Houghton County had 495 positive cases and 87 probable cases as of Thursday, according to the state.

In the month of September, the county added 413 new positive cases — averaging between 20 and 40 cases per day, Beer said.

The testing will be several days after K-12 schools and local higher education paused all or most in-person learning in an effort to reduce community spread.

“I’m hoping that the pause in the schools is going to help us to return fully,” Beer said. “This test site is just another step towards getting us there. I urge people to continue to social distance, wash their hands and wear a mask.”

As of Monday, the county was up to a seven-day average of 7.8% positive tests, an indication of community spread and more than twice the state average.

Michigan Technological University recorded four positive cases in surveillance testing over the past week, for a positive rate of 1.1%. There have been 20 positive tests through symptomatic and physician-tested referrals.

Tech’s overall testing rate for the past two weeks has detected 52 tests, for a positive average of 4.3%.

Joel Isaacson, Tech’s senior athletic director and project manager of the MTU Flex Task Force, said although COVID-19 numbers are declining among the Tech campus the university sees an opportunity to use its resources to address the spread of the virus in the broader community.

“We feel fortunate that we are in a position to assist our community in limiting the spread of COVID-19,” he said in a release from Tech. “These are great partnerships that help keep the Copper Country strong.”

The event is the latest in which the Michigan National Guard has assisted in COVID-19 testing throughout the state. In August, the Guard participated in testing in southwestern Michigan with a focus on migrant farm workers. This week the Guard assisted in testing in Holland, Tawas City, Rogers City and Three Rivers.

Earlier this week, Beer and other community leaders met with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to discuss the area’s rise in cases. Beer said Whitmer’s message to them had been the same as the one she communicated to the public — wear masks, keep sanitizing and maintain social distancing.

The U.P. participants also got to communicate their thoughts to Whitmer, Beer said.

“It was a chance to have a discussion with her about the indicators that we have been seeing within our community about how the disease is spreading, what our caseload has been looking like, and what our plan was for how we’re going to slow the spread within our community,” she said.

Some requests they made to Whitmer included more assistance from the National Guard, additional test kits and more help with messaging and public service announcements.

The National Guard assistance was in addition to Saturday’s testing, which was being set up before Whitmer’s visit, Beer said.

“That was actually in the works, but it was an opportunity to talk about how the National Guard could assist in the future, and the need to expand general testing in the area, and just resources in the area overall as far as what our needs were as far as staffing and PPE,” she said.