By Neil Doyle
BLOOMINGTON – Bloomington’s COVID-19 drive-thru testing site will close Thursday because the site isn’t hitting its testing capacity.
That’s according to a statement from the Illinois Department of Public Health:
“The Community Based Testing Site in Bloomington provided a valuable service for 45 days in McLean County. Unfortunately, these valuable resources are being under-utilized, averaging 103 tests per day, with some days as low as 30, at a facility that is capable of administering 250 tests a day. With the opening of additional COVID-19 testing services in the Bloomington-Normal area, a decision was made by the Illinois Department of Public Health, in conjunction with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, to petition the federal government to relocate these services.”
According to reports, the site will be moved to Peoria. Gov. JB Pritzker addressed the topic during his press briefing Tuesday.
“These drive-thru’s in the rest of the state are getting over 500 cars a day, so we want to make sure the most effective locations are chosen and make sure people have the ability to get a test,” said the governor. “Bloomington has a number of locations already available, we want to make sure we find other drive-thru settings.”
The IDPH website lists OSF PromptCare and Chestnut Health Systems as the other places to get a test in Bloomington-Normal, but the guidelines to be tested are more strict.
Neil Doyle can be reached at neil.doyle@cumulus.com
