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Illinois Department of Public Health Focuses Mobile COVID-19 Testing in High-Risk Communities

News – Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Community-Based Testing Sites schedule adjusted as IDPH prioritizes mobile testing operations

SPRINGFIELD – In an effort to make one of the largest COVID-19 testing infrastructures in the country more easily accessible for residents, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is fine tuning its targeted mobile testing operations.  This is in response to a decline in the number of people utilizing state supported testing sites and in preparation for the next phases of the pandemic response.  IDPH is realigning its testing strategy to deploy mobile testing teams to locations with a high demand for testing, such as schools, processing plants, high risk workplaces, and other targeted locations. 

“By focusing on taking testing to where people are, we hope to increase the number of people being tested for COVID-19,” said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike.  “Testing is important to quickly identify individuals with COVID-19 to stop further spread of the virus.  Our test positivity rate is currently low, and one way to keep it low is to identify infected individuals as quickly as possible so contact tracing efforts can identify close contacts who may have been exposed and have them quarantine so the virus does not spread further.”      

Due to changes in public demand, the days of operation for the State community-based testing sites are being adjusted.  These changes will go into effect on Thursday, March 18, 2021.  The new days of operation for the community-based testing sites are as follows:

Testing Site Address Days Hours
Arlington Heights Arlington Racetrack
2000 W. Euclid Ave.
Mon-Wed-Fri-Sat 8am – 4pm
Auburn Gresham 7938 S. Halsted St. Mon-Wed-Fri-Sat 8am – 4pm
Aurora 2450 N. Farnsworth Ave. Mon-Wed-Fri-Sat 8am – 4pm
Bloomington 1106 Interstate Dr. Mon-Wed-Fri-Sat 9am – 5pm
Champaign Market Place Shopping
2000 N. Neil St.
Mon-Wed-Fri-Sat 8am – 4pm
East St. Louis St. Clair Square
134 St. Clair Square
Mon-Wed-Fri-Sat 8am – 4pm
Harwood Heights 6959 W. Forest Preserve Rd. Mon-Wed-Fri-Sat 7am – 3pm
Peoria Peoria Civic Center
Fulton Street Parking Lot
Mon-Wed-Fri-Sat 8am – 4pm
Rockford 1321 Sandy Hollow Rd. Mon-Wed-Fri-Sat 8am – 4pm
Waukegan 102 W. Water St. Mon-Wed-Fri-Sat 8am – 4pm

For more information about state-supported community testing sites, as well as other COVID-19 testing sites, visit http://www.dph.illinois.gov/testing.