Daily COVID-19 test count down 24%, 113 more COVID-19 deaths
The number of daily tests performed for COVID-19 dropped amid closures of testing facilities, Illinois Department of Public Health data indicated Tuesday.
Tests performed in the last 24 hours totaled 16,431, a 24% decrease from the seven-day average of 21,661. State-run testing facilities closed Monday and Tuesday because Illinois National Guard troops assisting at those sites were shifted to helping keep the peace during widespread protests over George Floyd's death in Minneapolis.
"It is difficult to say if the dip in numbers is directly related to the testing closure from yesterday," the state health department said in an email Tuesday.
"We do see influxes in testing numbers when larger facilities test all employees or when nursing homes are testing all residents and staffs. We saw a dip into the 17,000 range for a couple of days last week as well, so it is a little early to see if closure of state-operated sites impacted overall testing numbers."
Ten of the 11 sites will reopen Wednesday, officials said.
Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 deaths in Illinois rose by 113 Tuesday, the health officials said. That's higher than the 14-day average of 83 people.
The state reported 1,614 new cases in the last 24 hours, a decrease from the two-week average of 1,772.
That brings the total number of Illinoisans who have died from the respiratory disease to 5,525 and cases statewide to 122,848.
Testing is an essential metric that the state uses to measure how soon it can reopen businesses and services in Illinois.
Earlier this spring, Gov. J.B. Pritzker coordinated with universities and hospitals plus received federal aid to ramp up testing across Illinois. For example, the total tests performed on April 6 were just 12,262 statewide.
As of Tuesday, 934,704 tests had been reported since the outbreak began, with a positive rate of 7%, which reflects a downward trend.