Illinois moves COVID testing site from JJK Center in East St. Louis to St. Clair Square
The Illinois Department of Public Health announced Thursday that it has moved its community-based-testing site in the metro-east from the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Community Center in East St. Louis to St. Clair Square in Fairview Heights.
The move already had been made as of Thursday morning, with about 12 to 14 cars in a line at the new testing location, which is outside Dillards on the north side of the mall. The site will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The decision to relocate the testing site came from the IDPH on Wednesday, said St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency Director Herb Simmons. It offered no additional explanation, he said.
“We got a call late yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon that it would be moved today to St. Clair Square mall,” he said.
According to a statement issued by the IDPH, St. Clair Square has more space for cars to line up, which could increase the number of people the site can test each day. On average, approximately 300 specimens a day were being collected at the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center.
As of Thursday afternoon, the IDPH had not responded to questions regarding its decision to move the site. Simmons said he doesn’t know why the decision was made or if IDPH anticipates increased volumes of people wanting to be tested.
“I really can’t say if I anticipate any increase in testing volume in East St. Louis because I don’t know where the majority of testing is coming from,” he said.
Statewide, the IDPH has seen an increase in total testing demand. The state reported more than 60,000 tests were administered on Nov. 29. According to the IDPH website, more than 106,000 were performed on Thursday.
The Illinois Department of Public Health will continue to offer free testing in East St. Louis, including a permanent location at 4601 State St. every Sunday and Monday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Testing at all community-based testing sites is open to anyone. People do not need to be exhibiting symptoms, have a doctor’s order, make an appointment or have insurance in order to be tested, according to the state health department.
This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 2:52 PM.
