If you think you may have been exposed to COVID-19 or have symptoms of the virus, you can get tested in Brown County this week at no charge.

Brown County saw its first government-funded COVID-19 testing site open to the public at the Brown County Music Center last week. It’ll be open through Saturday, July 25, and might stick around longer depending on use and need.

The testing clinic is fully funded by the Indiana State Department of Health, said Brown County Public Health Emergency Preparedness Coordinator Corey Frost, meaning that no local or county money was spent on the facility.

Because of this, the clinic is free to any person who wants to get tested for the virus, and no insurance is required for a test, he said.

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“That was our goal, to get an accessible clinic set up for anyone in Brown County.”

The clinic saw more than 400 people get tested during its first week, Frost said.

Clinic staff have been telling people to wait two to four days to learn their results.

“We haven’t had any bottlenecks on the street or any complaints about the wait or traffic,” he said. “Honestly, it has gone pretty smoothly so far. We haven’t really had any major issues or complications.”

The music center clinic is an active infection testing site, Frost said, meaning that the test examines whether a patient is currently carrying the COVID-19 virus.

Rather than an antibody test, which uses a blood sample to identify past infection, the active infection test requires a nose swab to determine if a person is infected with COVID-19.

“This is something that we have been working to get set up since the pandemic initially started,” Frost said. “I’m very glad that we can finally offer this to our community.”

The music center clinic is operating as a drive-thru. Patients don’t ever have to exit their vehicles during the testing process. Frost and other health officials have set up signs advertising the clinic along State Road 46 and have blocked off a majority of Maple Leaf Boulevard, the street the music center is on, with cones directing patients where to go.

There is no official scheduling process for a test. Rather, Frost said the clinic is operating on a first-come, first-served basis, where registration is just done at the facility from the patient’s car.

“The whole process is actually pretty quick and easy in my opinion,” he said. “A swabber, what we call the people conducting the tests, will come to a person’s car, take their information to get them registered and then will test their nostril with a cotton swab. No one will even have to get out of a car.”

The testing site opened July 14 and remained open through July 18 between 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The clinic reopened on July 20, and, according to Frost, will likely remain open to the public until Saturday, July 25. From there, it will be up to the ISDH and Brown County health officials to determine the site’s necessity.

Brown County Health Officer Dr. Norman Oestrike said during a July 15 county commissioners meeting that the county is in negotiations with the state to make the testing site permanent. Oestrike cited the upcoming school year and the health of students as a strong argument for the site’s permanence.

He continued that last year many students had symptoms of COVID-19 before the virus officially made its way to the United States.

“It was strep throat, flu and colds. The hope is that we can have a COVID testing clinic combined with an immunization clinic to continue that through the school system,” he said.

After the county’s July 13 announcement of the clinic, some residents, on social media, questioned the necessity of a testing facility in Brown County. Others were unsure as to why testing is necessary for those who aren’t showing symptoms.

Multiple medical authorities, such as the Centers for Disease Control, World Health Organization and university hospitals, have reported that COVID-19 can be transmitted to others by people who are not showing symptoms.

“If you want to protect the people that are closest to you from getting this virus, especially those who are older or have weakened immune systems, getting tested is a crucial step to ensuring you don’t spread it,” Frost said.

Also, many businesses have begun requiring employees to get tested in order to return to work after the shutdown, Frost said.

Students not wanting to spread the virus to teachers, faculty and peers also will benefit from the testing facility, he said.

“Some have questioned the timing of this clinic being brought here, but it is something that we have been working toward for a long time,” he said. “We are very glad we can now give locals the opportunity to get tested.”