All federally-funded COVID-19 testing facilities in Illinois were temporarily shut down as civil unrest stirs across the state in the wake of national discord over George Floyd's death. That includes the new testing site set up in the Civic Center parking lot in Peoria staffed by the Illinois National Guard. The sites were closed Monday and Tuesday, but are set to reopen statewide on Wednesday.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said it's an unfortunate consequence of the rioting happening across Illinois.
"We can't have police out there protecting guardsmen who are out there trying to protect the public. It's just impossible at the moment," he said.
The state-run COVID-19 testing site can serve 250 people a day, seven days a week. A reopening date hasn't been announced, but the Illinois Emergency Management Agency said those dates will come out "as soon as determined."
But the Heartland Health Services community-based testing sites funded by the state still remain open. Dr. Gregg Stoner is their chief medical officer.
"We wanna serve the community, and want to be there, and want to think that people know that we're providing a service to them that's in their best interest, and we hope that we wouldn't see any violence come against us," he said.
Stoner said Heartland has talked to both the Peoria Police Department and Peoria County Sheriff's Office about safety. Tuesday, the East Bluff testing site used all 150 tests as the federally-funded site remained closed.
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