Gov. JB Pritzker said Illinois has now conducted more than 1 million COVID-19 tests.
"This milestone is the result of the incredible work of so many people behind the scenes in state government, in our National Guard, in our private and public healthcare systems, all around the state," he said.
Pritzker made the announcement during a press conference Friday at the Peoria Civic Center COVID-19 testing site funded by the federal government and staffed by the Illinois National Guard.
The 11 state-operated testing sites alone now have capacity to give more than 6,000 tests a day. There are 279 community-based testing sites in Illinois, including 108 federally-qualified healthcare centers.
There are four community-based testing sites in the Tri-County area of Peoria, Tazewell, and Woodford. Three are run by Heartland Health Services. The state-run site is the most recent addition to Peoria's COVID-19 testing capacity.
Peoria County Board Chairman Andrew Rand commended the testing efforts happening on multiple levels locally.
"When the National Guard was coming to town, people wondered, well, isn't that a lot of duplication? Well, you don't get to the number 1 million without the resources available from all levels of government and from all of the parties playing," Rand said.
Pritzker also recommends anyone attending a protest or other large gathering gets a test within 5 to 7 days afterwards. He said he supports the right to free expression, but worries about people being so close together with the COVID-19 pandemic still raging.
"I'm glad to say so many were wearing masks. That's half the battle for sure. But I worry. And you won't see it show up, it doesn't show up in the case numbers early. You know where it shows up, where you really will see it, is two to three weeks hence," he said.
He said state health officials will be better able to assess whether Illinois can still move onto the next reopening phase after examining incoming data in the next week or two.
Tests are free to the user. The state recently lifted all testing restrictions at the federally-funded COVID-19 test sites.
Click here to find a testing site.
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