SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Sunday marked five straight days of 50,000-plus COVID-19 tests administered across the state of Illinois.
The Illinois Department of Public Health said 54,351 people took part in testing between Saturday and Sunday.
While this didn’t quite match Saturday’s record-breaking numbers — nearly 57,000 were tested — it did speak to just how much testing efforts have ramped up since the Food and Drug Administration gave emergency approval on Wednesday to the University of Illinois for an experimental saliva test.
The test “produces rapid results at costs that allow and permit large-scale surveillance testing,” said university President Tim Killeen.
“That combination is a key to curbing the virus,” he added.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker also sang the test’s praises.
“Fast testing, fast results, isolating people faster, and contact tracing. All those things have an enormously positive effect,” he said.
Along with the news of the testing, IDPH reported 1,893 new cases of the virus and six additional deaths.
The state’s rolling seven-day positivity rate went slightly down, to the 4.2% mark.
1,449 people throughout the state were in hospitals with the virus. 339 of those patients were in intensive care, and 117 were on ventilators.
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