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State COVID Test Site Closing Sunday

Three weeks after it opened, the COVID-19 testing site in Rock Island is going to close this weekend. Operated by the state, it opened on June 29th, and will perform its final tests on Sunday afternoon.

Nita Ludwig, Administrator of the Rock Island County Health Department, says through Thursday, nearly 4,300 people were tested at the QCCA Expo Center, or about 250 each day. And despite the fact that it takes three to four days for people to find out if they're positive or negative, she says it could be worse.

"We have heard the stories in other states of it taking up to two weeks which is absolutely un-acceptable. So three or four days isn't the greatest thing but it's not too bad really."

Ludwig recommends if you do get tested, try to stay home and minimize your exposure to other people while waiting for the results.

She does not have specific figures for positive tests at the Expo Center, but overall in Rock Island County now the positivity rate is 5.6 per cent. 

"We'd like to see it a little bit lower, like 2 or 3 per cent, but it's still well under the number to be really concerned about which is 10. I think that's the CDC guideline that it should be 10 per cent or under for positivity rate."

The testing site will be open 8:30 am to 4:30 pm each day through Sunday.

Ludwig says local residents can still get COVID tests at Community Health Care, local health clinics, and from their primary care doctors. 

A native of Detroit, Herb Trix began his radio career as a country-western disc jockey in Roswell, New Mexico (“KRSY, your superkicker in the Pecos Valley”), in 1978. After a stint at an oldies station in Topeka, Kansas (imagine getting paid to play “Louie Louie” and “Great Balls of Fire”), he wormed his way into news, first in Topeka, and then in Freeport Illinois.