Here’s what you need to know about getting tested for coronavirus in East St. Louis
The first metro-east COVID-19 testing site in a predominantly African-American community opened Thursday.
Referred patients will be able to visit Touchette Regional Hospital’s drive-thru collection site at 100 N. 8th Street to have a sample taken and tested for free.
Patients must first pass screening with a clinician by calling 618-646-2596. The clinician will ask questions about symptoms, possible exposure, age, work environment and underlying health conditions. If a patient meets testing requirements, they will be given a time to visit the site the same day.
If a patient does not meet the requirements, they will be told to self-isolate and stay at home unless symptoms worsen.
The screening line will be open from 11:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and collections will be taken from noon to 3 p.m. those days. Starting Monday, the screening line will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Testing hours will go from noon to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The site will remain open indefinitely. While those with health insurance will be asked to provide that information, there will be no cost, and all patients are eligible for screening regardless of insurance coverage.
Results will typically be available within a day.
Eligible patients can access the testing site from the 9th Street parking lot entrance. Staff and Illinois State Police will help direct patients to the right place.
Coronavirus in black communities
Black communities have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic statewide.
While African-Americans make up just less than 15 percent of Illinois’ population, they account for approximately 43 percent of the state’s 596 COVID-19 fatalities and 28 percent of its 17,887 confirmed cases, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
At a daily briefing last week in Chicago, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced new testing sites, including the one in East St. Louis, would open to address the lack of data about the virus’ spread in those communities.
Linda Davis Joiner, a spokeswoman and program director for East Side Health District, told the Belleville News-Democrat after Pritzker’s announcement that now is the time to collect more data on COVID-19’s impact to better inform public health initiatives beyond the virus’ spread.
“Hopefully we can do something about it by tracking the statistics. It’s just too disproportionate. We’ve got to figure something out here,” she said. “We can maybe start with some intentionality with this virus since we’re tracking everything else associated with it.”
The site at Touchette could collect as many as 470 samples per day. The specimens will go to Anderson Hospital in Maryville for analysis.
Two more testing sites are expected to open in the metro-east, including one in Cahokia and one in Belleville, said state Sen. Chris Belt, D-Cahokia. It’s not yet clear where those sites will be located or when they will open.
Touchette Regional Hospital officials coordinated with local lawmakers and the Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation to open the collection site in East St. Louis.
Capitol News Illinois contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 16, 2020 at 1:52 PM.
