Local National Guard COVID-19 testing cancelled

Due to “a large backlog” of unprocessed tests, said County Manager Stan Kelley, the Georgia National Guard called off Friday’s testing for COVID-19 in Lumpkin County.
The decision, said 1st Sgt. Andrew Keene, “was made by a lot of people a lot higher up than me. They are doing the math on this. But we have more tests than can be processed, and to prevent kits from going bad, we cancelled Friday.”
Kelley said county officials learned about 5 p.m. yesterday.
“We have been trying to get it rerouted and scheduled through GEMA channels,” he said.
EMS Director David Wimpy got in touch with GEMA, but was unsuccessful in having Friday’s testing reinstated.
“It’s not GEMA’s deal,” he said. “The governor put it on the Guard to do the testing, but Augusta University is backlogged on the processing.”
Residents do have the option of going to the Dawson County’s Rock Creek Park testing site between 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. This site is open to everyone, and residency in Dawson County is not required.
Wimpy said GEMA told him a test would be rescheduled for Lumpkin County in a couple of weeks.