Illinois surpasses testing goal of 10,000 for first time

Illinois has passed Gov. JB Pritzker’s goal of 10,000 daily tests, with more than 16,000 tests completed Thursday.

The 16,124 tests far surpass Illinois’ previous single-day high of 9,349 completed tests, reported on Wednesday. As a result, Pritzker said Illinois saw 2,724 new cases of COVID-19, the highest in a single day.

“Surpassing 10,000 tests is a very important milestone, not only because it allows us to isolate more of those who are COVID positive so that they don’t spread the infection, but also because it moves us in the direction of expanding our surveillance for outbreaks,” he said.

Friday’s news comes nearly a month since Pritzker first mentioned his goal of hitting 10,000 daily tests. He attributed the growth to the now 112 public testing sites throughout the state as well as efforts by healthcare providers to conduct tests for their own patients.

However, Pritzker noted the state needs to continue to grow its testing capacity to lower the infection rate, to map the presence of the virus and to gradually reduce mitigation measures.

The positive rate for the latest batch of tests was about 17 percent, which is below the state’s cumulative average of 21 percent.

“It’s too early to say whether this is a result of expanded testing criteria versus an indicator of flattening the curve,” Pritzker said. “But it’s a positive sign nonetheless for everyone when more people are getting tested and there is a lower ratio of positives.”

A total of 189,632 tests have been completed.

Officials announced 108 COVID-19 deaths on Friday, bringing the state’s total to 1,795. The 2,724 new COVID-19 cases announced Friday brings the state’s total to 39,658 cases in 96 counties.

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