Opening of COVID-19 testing site at DuPage County fairgrounds delayed
The planned opening of a state-run COVID-19 testing facility in DuPage County has been pushed back until at least next week.
Officials said the drive-through facility tentatively was scheduled to open Friday at the county fairgrounds in Wheaton. But the opening was postponed for a number of reasons, including that Illinois National Guard troops assigned to the site may be deployed elsewhere to keep the peace.
"So we just decided it would be safer if we kind of let things cool down a little bit before we open up the testing site," county board Chairman Dan Cronin said Wednesday.
Cronin said his hope is that the facility will open in a week.
It will be available to anyone with COVID-19-like symptoms, such as coughing and shortness of breath.
All the tests are self-administered nasal swabs, officials said, so each person getting tested is handed the swab and directions through their car window. They then must swab their own nose and place the swab back in a bottle.
Dennis Brennan, legislative manager with the DuPage County Health Department, says the test determines if someone is currently infected with COVID-19.
"It does not tell you if you had it or if you're immune to it," Brennan said this week during a meeting of the health and human services committee.
Samples will be submitted to the state for testing. It's expected to take 48 hours to get results.
"Once we have the results, we'll contact each person to provide the results of the test, whether it's positive or negative," Brennan said, "and instruct them on what steps they have to take."
The plan is for the facility to operate five days a week for at least eight weeks. It initially will perform 200 to 250 tests per day.
Cronin said he's pleased DuPage is getting a testing site because widespread testing and contact tracing is key to conducting business during the pandemic.
"If we see a flare-up somewhere in the county, we have to be able to move quickly to isolate, to quarantine," Cronin said, "so people can go on with their lives and conduct business ... and their health is not jeopardized."