Jan. 4, 2022 State COVID testing sites have been bombarded with post-holiday testing demand, driven in part by the quickly spreading and highly contagious omicron variant of the virus. In a press release, Gov. Tim Walz said that the state will open three new testing sites, operated by the National Guard. Two of them will be in Anoka and Cottage Grove to meet demand in the Twin Cities. Information on when and where has not yet been released. The third will open in North Branch on Jan. 10. The state will also give schools 1.8 million at home rapid tests to give to families and provide 150,000 at-home tests to communities hit hard by the virus. It's not clear how long it will take the state to distribute the rapid tests. Subscribe to our Minnesota Today podcast to get up-to-date Minnesota news twice daily. —Catharine Richert, MPR News | 