Mobile Coronavirus Testing Site Comes To North Chicago, Zion

WAUKEGAN, IL — A new mobile coronavirus testing site is coming to Zion and North Chicago through Sunday, public health officials announced. Anyone who has recently attended a crowded event should get tested, according to the Lake County Health Department.

Testing is free and is open to everyone, whether they have symptoms or not. No photo identification or proof or insurance is necessary. Both drive-thru and walk-up testing is available at the site, which is managed by the Illinois Department of Public Health. Results are provided four to seven days later.

Dr. Sana Ahmed, medical epidemiologist at the Lake County Health Department, said people with symptoms should be tested immediately. But people who think they may have been exposed should wait up to a week.

“Due to ongoing community spread of COVID-19 in Lake County, we continue to advise all close contacts of COVID-19 cases, as well as people who have attended large or crowded gatherings to get tested,” Ahmed said in a release. “If you have no symptoms, it is best to wait 5-7 days to get tested after your exposure to an infected person, since the virus can take several days before it can be detected in the body."

In Zion, the mobile coronavirus testing site is scheduled to be at Lakeview Elementary School, 2200 Bethesda Blvd., on Tuesday, before moving to Zion Central Middle School at 1716 27th St. on Thursday.

On Saturday and Sunday, the site will head to North Chicago High School, 1717 17th Street, North Chicago.

In each location, the mobile will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. Up to 500 samples a day can be collected at the mobile site, according to a health department spokesperson.

There are also community-based testing sites run by the state health department at 102 W. Water St. in Waukegan, and at the Arlington International Racecourse at 2000 W. Euclid Ave. Both are open daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Only viral testing, usually done using a nasal swab, is conducted at state-run testing sites. Also known as polymerase chain reaction or PCR testing, the tests are more accurate that antigen testing but results take longer.

More information about COVID-19 testing sites in Illinois and a map of current locations are available from the state health department.

Lake County has not had more than one death a day since the end of June and fewer than 150 new cases a day since May 23, according to data from its health department's website. It shows North Chicago, Waukegan and Zion have among the highest per capita COVID-19 infection rates of any municipalities in the county.