Illinois increasing testing capacity, including new sites coming to Southern Illinois
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Thursday said the state is increasing its testing capacity to diagnose people infected with the coronavirus, as a record number of patients died from the respiratory disease it causes in a single day.
Since Wednesday, 125 people with the COVID-19 disease have died, including some metro-east residents.
Pritzker has said increased testing for COVID-19, tracing, or efforts to find people exposed to the virus, and eventually, treatment in the form of a vaccine, will be keys to life returning to normal in Illinois.
Five testing machines at state laboratories are “up and running with reliable results” after initially falling short in both quantity and accuracy, Pritzker said. The state now expects to provide thousands more tests per day at its labs alone.
It is also going to increase the number of testing sites across the state. And because it is producing its own raw materials, including swabs, for the tests, existing sites can reach out through their local emergency management agencies to get those supplies and increase the number of tests they can preform, according to the governor.
Southern Illinois will get nine to 12 new testing sites through Christopher Greater Area Rural Health, according to a news release from the governor’s office.
A drive-thru site opened at 108 N. 8th Street in East St. Louis through Southern Illinois Healthcare on Thursday. Patients must first be passed through an initial screening before tests will be administered.
A list of testing sites will be available at coronavirus.illinois.gov.
This story was originally published April 16, 2020 at 3:36 PM.
