Illinois First State To Do Own Coronavirus Testing

ACROSS ILLINOIS — The Illinois Department of Public Health can now test for the new coronavirus, making Illinois the first state to be able to conduct in-state testing, health officials announced Tuesday.

According to a news release, test results are typically available within 24 hours once specimens from tested persons are received at the Chicago IDPH laboratory. The department is bringing the testing for coronavirus online in its Springfield and Carbondale laboratories, too, the release said.

As of Tuesday, two Illinois residents had tested positive for the virus, now officially named COVID-19, while 44 test results have come back negative.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began shipping coronavirus laboratory test kits Wednesday to selected qualified U.S. and international laboratories, according to health officials. The distribution and use of the test kits follow the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Emergency Use Authorization, the officials said.

Upper and lower respiratory specimens collected from people who meet CDC criteria are tested for the virus. Those criteria include travel and exposure history, as well as symptoms such as a fever.

"The ability to do this testing will mean we will be able to detect any new cases of novel coronavirus earlier and prevent any possible spread," IDPH Assistant Director Evonda Thomas-Smith said in the news release. "We understand there is concern about this new virus, which is why having test results back quickly can help reduce some of those concerns."

Related:

On Friday, the state health department and the Illinois Poison Center set up a hotline for residents across the state to call if they have questions about the new coronavirus.

• Illinois residents outside of Chicago can call 800-889-3931 or email DPH.SICK@illinois.gov.
• Chicago residents can call 312-746-4835, Monday through Friday during business hours, and 311 during evenings, weekends and holidays, or email coronavirus@chicago.gov.

"It's an exciting development to be able to add this tool to our arsenal as we work to limit the spread of this virus," Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, said in the release. "A quicker response will help alleviate concerns of those being tested as well as the general public. We continue to work very closely with federal, state and local partners to ensure that we have a robust and coordinated public health response to emerging infectious diseases."

For more information on the new coronavirus, people can visit the IDPH website and consult the Frequently Asked Questions section.