PEORIA, Ill. — The new COVID-19 testing sites in Peoria were a main topic of conversation Monday night at the Peoria County Board of Health meeting.
With the expanded number of tests coming to the area, Public Health Administrator Monica Hendrickson says a lot can be learned from McLean County.
“One of the things that we saw in McLean County was a lot of usage from the community as a whole,” said Hendrickson. “And so, McLean County was able to identify a lot of cases within their community.”
Hendrickson also said that the more tests the Peoria area gets, the health department will have a better idea of what’s going on within the community.
Not everyone will be able to get a test who wants one, however, as the Peoria Health Department wants to ensure that tests results are correct.
“We want [patients] to have enough of a viral load for the test to come back as valid versus a false positive or false negative,” said Hendrickson. “The issue is really focusing in individuals that have symptoms.”
Those who are symptomatic will not have to be referred by a health care provider before going to a testing site, said Hendrickson. The testing sites will have both walk-up and drive-up options.
With virus testing coming to the area, it was questioned when antibody testing would be possible in the area as well.
Hendrickson said she believes that antibody testing is still far out, as only a select number of antibody tests have been approved to use in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first testing site will begin on April 21 at Heartland Health Services in East Bluff with operating hours of 9 am – 4 pm Monday – Friday and 9 am – 12 pm on Saturdays.
Hendrickson said the testing site at the Peoria City/County Health Department will be a weekend-only operation that will run from 10 am – 2 pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
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