(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday announced expanded state efforts to test people for COVID-19 and also offer vaccinations and boosters as coronavirus cases surge across Illinois.
Pritzker announced that state authorities will work with local health departments to expand capacity at mass-vaccination sites across Illinois.
And starting next week, he said, state-run COVID testing sites will begin operating six days a week from the current schedule of four days a week.
Testing facilities have been swarmed in recent days, and over-the-counter, at-home COVID tests have been virtually impossible to find at retail outlets.
The governor's announcement came about an hour after he and other governors spoke virtually with President Biden about the latest COVID surge, which is blamed on the omicron variant.
Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, said hospitalizations increased across the state by 300 in the most recent 24-hour period.
“The hospitalizations have definitely increased. We’re averaging about 500 new COVID admits a day — a day,” she said.