For the second straight day, all Illinois community-based coronavirus testing sites will be closed Tuesday, according to the state’s Department of Public Health.
The state is currently operating 10 different testing sites all over Illinois, including in Aurora, Champaign, Chatham, East St. Louis, Harwood Heights, Peoria, Rockford, Rolling Meadows, South Holland and Waukegan.
The closure of the state-run facilities was ordered by IEMA Director Alicia Tate-Nadeau on Sunday to “protect staff and those utilizing these services,” and no reopening date has been set.
Part of the reason for the closure is the re-assignment of National Guard soldiers, who are helping law enforcement agencies across the state deal with civil unrest and looting, including in Chicago.
“It’s one of the unfortunate consequences of what’s happened,” Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said of the closures Monday. “Let me be clear: we would not have the kind of testing numbers that you have across the state if the guard wasn’t manning these posts, but unfortunately this situation has forced us to shut down temporarily.”
