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The Albert Lea Rapid Testing Site is moving from the former Shopko space to the Albert Lea Armory due to unforeseen circumstances. 

Operating days and hours will remain the same (11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays), but the site will be closed on Saturday, Feb. 26 for a drill. 

No soldiers will be participating in testing operations, according to the Freeborn County Public Health Department. Testing had previously been held at the armory from winter 2020 to the summer of 2021.

The following is an update on area COVID-19 cases:

A 60- to 64-year-old Mower County resident has died from COVID-19 complications, according to the update from health officials Tuesday.

Mower County reported 33 new cases of the coronavirus, with another case listed as probable. Mower has recorded 11,577 total cases, and 65 area residents have died.

Freeborn County officials recorded 39 new lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19, and another six cases were listed as probable. The county has reported 8,764 total cases, and 68 county residents have died from COVID-19 complications.

Among the new cases, three were found in infants newborn to 4, two cases each were discovered in children 5 to 9 and 10 to 14, three cases were found in teenagers 15 to 19, eight cases apiece were discovered in adults in their 20s and 30s, four cases were found in citizens in their 40s, three cases were found in people in their 50s and 60s, four cases were found in residents in their 70s and 80s and another case was found in a resident in their 90s. 

One resident in Freeborn County was sent to a hospital for care, and there are 125 lab-confirmed cases.

Steele County reported the highest number of new cases in the area with 58 confirmed, and there were another two cases listed as probable. Steele has recorded 10,076 total cases, and 50 county residents have died since the pandemic began.

Waseca County recorded eight new cases. That raises the county’s total number of cases to 5,354, 38 being fatal.

Faribault County also confirmed eight new cases of COVID-19. There have been 3,670 total cases in the county, and 49 Faribault residents have died from COVID-19 complications.

Minnesota had 6,469 new cases of COVID-19, raising the state’s total number of cases to 1,399,164. Thirty-two new Minnesotans died as of 11 a.m. on Monday, raising the state’s total number of deaths to 11,862.