Emily Howell, a Registered Nurse with the COVID testing center in Baton Rouge, La., and Crista Hebert, an Emergency Medical Technician, process COVID tests.

Emily Howell, a Registered Nurse with the COVID testing center in Baton Rouge, La., conducts a Covid test on a FEMA employee.

Emily Howell, a Registered Nurse with the COVID testing center in Baton Rouge, La., conducts Covid tests on first responders.

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana – Anyone who has ever been tested for the COVID-19 virus knows the process is not fun. Now, think about having to get a nasal swab every 72 hours for 30 days or more.

That is just another part of the job for the more than 375 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers personnel on the ground in Louisiana supporting the Hurricane Ida recovery mission. While testing is a part of the deployment, it is not a deterrent.

"There's a slight operational adjustment to have everyone tested," said Hal Graef, St. Louis District employee and Hurricane Ida Blue Roof action officer. "I wouldn't say it's a major interruption from the mission … it's just a slight delay."

Operating in a COVID-19 environment has made the last two years different from pre-COVID recovery missions. It's all a little different from having to wear masks to testing, to how team members interact with the public, and even how first responders get to their workstations, added Graef.

According to Graef, the tests here were his first. But, he says, "it is what it is."

"Now, on this mission, I'm tested every 72 hours," Graef said. "I don't mind it. I do it. It's not that uncomfortable. It's just part of doing business right now. It's part of everyone's daily life here working Hurricane Ida."

Col. Jason Putnam, Huntington District commander, said the testing requirement may be less than desirable, but it’s really about protecting the people that are here to help the citizens of Louisiana recover from Hurricane Ida.

"There are a couple of reasons the testing is important to the mission," said Putnam, who is in charge of the Corps’ temporary housing mission. "First, we want to keep everyone as healthy as we possibly can and secondly, to contain the spread of an outbreak, if it concurs."

At the Federal Emergency Management Agency building in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where the Joint Field Office is located, a small staff of nurses and administrative personnel work seven days a week, 12-hours a day to help ensure the safety of the response team and the residents in Louisiana.

"In my opinion, it's [the COVID-19 test] keeping people working," said Emily Howell, a registered nurse at the testing center.

Howell added that having everyone on the recovery team get tested routinely allows for a certain layer of safety. She added that it helps people to avoid getting sick and potentially taking something home to their family.

Howell said she estimates the testing center has completed more than 10,000 tests since Hurricane Ida made landfall Aug. 29. She says there's another benefit to the frequent testing. "We're catching things before people have symptoms," Howell said. "So, before people even know that they are contagious, we're catching it, so they can't spread it to people, and that's keeping the public safe as well."

Putnam said the test can provide peace of mind when interacting with so many people on a daily basis.

"It's important for us to try to help [survivors] with their efforts to recover and make it a little bit less stressful," he said. "By regularly testing, we are potentially preventing a spread. But, of course, if they had to deal with COVID-19, too, that would be the icing on the cake. That would be no house and COVID-19."