CHICAGO, Ill. – Dr. Ngozi Ezike, Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, said testing is important to help stop the spread of coronavirus.
She said Thursday it is important when being tested to identify your age.
Ezike said there were 2,563 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s total to 52,918 cases, with 2,355 total deaths.
Gov. J.B Pritzker expressed pleasure that over 10,000 tests are being done everyday in Illinois, which surpasses the goal set in March.
“Accomplishing a goal of testing involves much more than just a machine to run tests,” he said.
“A lab needs the raw materials necessary to sustain and increase testing output. When this pandemic hit the United States, it became immediately evident our nation just doesn’t produce enough of these raw materials to meet the medical need.
“Our procurement teams have been hard at work competing for those raw materials against every nation and every state in the open market, and so far, we’re succeeding.”
Pritzker said the White House has promised Illinois 620,000 individual testing swabs, and the state has increased public testing sites to 177, up from 112 on Friday.
He said Peoria had nine sites.
Pritzker said Illinois’s being able to reopen its economy slowly starting Friday is an accomplishment.
“As we open things up and make progress, [Friday] will be the first day where adults and any children over the age of two and everyone medically able to tolerate a face covering will be required to wear one in any public place where they can’t maintain a six-foot social distance,” he said.
“All these changes represent a shift in our approach to COVID-19, a shift made possible by millions of Illinoisans who have stepped up by staying home and keeping each other safe.”
