As COVID-19 Surges Again In Illinois, So Does Demand For Tests, Prompting Shortages At Some Testing Sites
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Some COVID-19 testing sites in Illinois are closing hours before they're supposed to after running out of tests, leaving a lot of frustrated drivers who arrive to an empty lot.
CBS 2's Marissa Parra was at the DuPage County testing site when it shut down for the day on Friday.
People started lining up at 5 a.m., and the drive-thru site opened at 7 a.m., but for the third day in a row they ran out of tests before 9 a.m.
DuPage County Health Department tweeted at 8:13 a.m. that they were done for the day, because they'd "reached capacity."
The testing site was supposed to be open until noon.
On Thursday, they cut off the line at 8:16 a.m., and on Wednesday, they closed the line at 8:14 a.m.
Officials said it all comes down to a shortage of testing kits, and an increase in people trying to get tested.
"We're definitely trying to fight for more tests," DuPage County Director of Community Health Resources Chris Hoff said. "It's really complex to add more. It's not something you just can go out and buy more of, and magically open capacity."
The DuPage County Health Department said the spike in people trying to get tested started in October. They've been easily surpassing their cap of 600 tests a day.
Will County is seeing similar issues.
Both counties have received millions of dollars in federal coronavirus relief funds to help with the response to the pandemic, but DuPage officials said all of that goes into the costs of paying staff and actually running the testing site.
They said they have asked for more testing kits, but it's up to the state to provide the amount of tests, which are spread out over each week.
