Mountrail County Medical Center offers drive-through COVID-19 testing Friday

A health center in Stanley offered one of the first COVID-19 test drive through services in the state that did not require symptoms or pre-screening.

As southern Mountrail County continues to be a hotspot for COVID-19, one medical center stepped up to offer free drive through testing without an appointment.

At least 160 cars came through the testing site in Stanley from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with some holding as many as nine people who wanted to be tested.

“We're preparing probably to do between three and 400 tests,” said Dr. Rich Laksonen.

Stanley is not in the southern part of the county, but Laksonen said the center wanted to help the state learn more about where the virus is spiking in the county.

“Being that we are the facility that services the count, we saw that need to determine where in Mountrail County these hotspots are located,” said Laksonen.

Laksonen said they were compelled to drop restrictions on the site making it "no appointment, or symptoms necessary." It's one of the only in the state.

“We also wanted our residents in northern Mountrial County to come in and get a test whether we have symptoms or not,” he said.

Laksonen said the community was appreciative of the effort.

Medical staff say it is too soon to tell how many will test positive. It will take 24 to 48 hours for the dozens of people that came out Friday to know their results.