February 25, 2021 – Senator Chapin Rose was on hand to tour the Decatur testing facility for the U of I’s SHIELD COVID testing program located inside of HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital.
“This (COVID-19) is going to be with us for a long time, unfortunately, and testing is the key to resuming activity. We need SHIELD all over the state,” said Senator Rose. “This lab, you’re serving folks in Sangamon County, Coles County, obviously Macon and the surrounding areas, so, a big impact of just one single lab on the surrounding region.”
The lab site, which is the seventh in the state of Illinois, is able to process anywhere from 4-5,000 tests per day. Those numbers currently include ADM workers, Millikin students, as well as Eastern Illinois students with the list continuing to grow.
Senator Rose noted that the goal is to have a facility like this within a 30-minute drive for most residents and says that while the number of sites has grown from three to seven in just a month, the reality is that 20-25 of these sites are needed across the state.
