A self-service COVID-19 test operated by the Illinois National Guard is now screening other people 65 and older, in addition to first responders and healthcare workers.
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
As the number of COVID-19 cases shown in Illinois topped 5,000 on Monday, Gov. J. B. Pritzker said there still isn’t enough testing to track the rise of the deadly disease, even though several new testing sites have opened in recent years. days.
“Just look at the number of tests that have been done, even in giant states, it’s small compared to the number of other people who we already know have COVID-19, or who have had it and never knew it,” Pritzker said. He said at a press conference. briefing on Monday. “And so, it’s a huge problem. “
As of Monday, 5,057 of the other 30,446 people tested for the coronavirus in Illinois tested positive, 73 of whom succumbed to the disease, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
As of Sunday, Illinois conducted about 4,000 tests per day, double the state’s testing capacity five days earlier. each of our 102 counties. “
The governor said Monday he was “very, very excited” about an immediate new COVID-19 test developed by Lake Bluff-based Abbott Labs, which won emergency approval last week from the Food and Drug Administration. Five minutes, the company said.
“If we can produce enough, we can make a real difference,” Pritzker said. “The challenge is that Abbott can only produce about 50,000 a day,” and they are distributed across the country.
Governor J. B. Pritzker’s Twitter
But Pritzker said there were also “concerns about materials” needed to administer and treat coronavirus tests, such as swabs and reagents. Labs that inevitably run out of these important materials “will slow down or impede the overall process,” he noted.
Thirty hospital and clinical labs were operational as of Sunday, as well as 3 state labs, 3 federally subsidized roadside sites, and two state-run self-service locations.
Officials opened the state’s moment self-service checkpoint over the weekend at the McLean County Fairgrounds in Bloomington. Members of the Illinois National Guard manage this array, as well as the first self-service lab at a former emissions control facility on the Northwest Side.
Both sites are now testing physical care workers, first responders and others over the age of 65, all of whom will need to have respiratory symptoms, according to IDPH. When the Harwood Heights network testing site opened last week in Chicago, only frontline staff and first responders were evaluated.
Meanwhile, the University of Illinois at Chicago has opened a self-service COVID-19 center for network patients who have obtained a prescription from a doctor. And Midwest Express Clinic, a chain of urgent care centers, offers limited services at 8 sites in Illinois and northwest Indiana to high-risk physical care workers, first responders and patients.
While fit tests are more available, not everyone can get one yet. On Monday, IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said lately the state is prioritizing testing for inpatients, the elderly, high-risk patients with pre-existing conditions and those living in collective facilities, such as nursing homes and prisons.
“Obviously, not everyone has been evaluated and due to the shortage of Array. . . We were looking to have a prioritized scheme in terms of our limited resources,” Ezike said.
Pritzker has for weeks criticized President Donald Trump’s reaction to the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to complaining Sunday that personal labs under contract with the federal government took 4 to 10 days to process and roll back tests, Pritzker said the number of tests performed at state-run self-service sites has been limited through the federal red registry.
“Because the federal government requires representation of federal workers in any of our self-service departments, we remain tied to a limit of 250 tests at those locations,” Pritzker told reporters Sunday.
“We did 250 tests in the early afternoon and had to turn away other people. “