TYLER — Results from last week’s community COVID-19 testing event in Tyler are still coming in, but as of Monday afternoon, 15 people had tested positive, Avera Tyler spokespeople said.

That total includes seven people who were between the ages of 11 and 17, and eight people between the ages of 38 and 50.

So far, five of the positive COVID-19 cases were people who didn’t have symptoms — and all but one were younger people, said Dr. Dan Florey, a physician at Avera Tyler.

“One of the benefits of the testing event is having the opportunity to test people who thought they might have been exposed, but who might be asymptomatic,” Florey said.

The testing event, held July 15 in Tyler, drew hundreds of people. Medical workers collected a total of 411 samples for COVID-19 testing. By Monday afternoon, 385 test results were in, with 15 positive cases. So far, the positivity rate for the people tested at the event is 3.9%.

A similar community testing event was held in Marshall in June. Testing samples were collected from a total of 1,019 people, spread over three days. Of that total, 32 people — about 3% — tested positive for COVID-19.

The community of Tyler and Avera Tyler organized their testing event on two days’ notice after a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases being reported in Lincoln County. Florey said the event went well, and he was “absolutely thrilled” with the strong testing turnout in a smaller town.

“I think it speaks well to the community,” he said.

It’s hard to draw specific conclusions about the number of children and teens who have tested positive for COVID-19 at the Tyler event, Florey said.

“This is still a pretty small sample,” he said. However, he said the situation helped highlight the importance of wearing face coverings, washing hands and practicing social distancing to help keep from spreading the coronavirus.

Even if you aren’t feeling sick, you could still unknowingly spread the virus to other people.

“And the people you spread it to may not be so fortunate as to be asymptomatic,” Florey said.

The total cases of COVID-19 was up to 47 in Lincoln County on Monday, the Minnesota Department of Health reported. A total of 922 new cases were reported statewide on Monday, as well as four new deaths from COVID-19. The death count included a 9-month-old in Clay County, the state’s first reported child death from COVID-19.

Cases of COVID-19 had been on the rise in Pipestone County as well in the past few weeks. On Monday, a drive-up community testing event was also held by Pipestone County Medical Center at the Pipestone County fairgrounds.