Prairie State Wire

The Illinois Department of Public Health recently announced a $225 million investment to give easier access to covidSHIELD testing to secondary students in the state at little to no expense.

The focus on testing comes from efforts to get students back in the classroom as quickly and safely as possible.

"We're taking every step to help students get back into the classroom," Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-IL) wrote in a Facebook post on May 14.

Testing will help quickly detect COVID-19 positive students to quarantine the student to prevent further transmission in the school, sports or other activities. 

“We are so excited to have students back in classrooms, reconnected with their teachers and their friends,” State Superintendent of Education Dr. Carmen I. Ayala told the Illinois Department of Public Health. 

“COVID-19 testing in schools helps to preserve and protect the in-person learning that we have all worked so hard to bring back by quickly identifying any new cases and reducing the risk of transmission. Making testing widely and freely available gives schools another important tool to keep students and educators safe as we move closer and closer to putting the pandemic behind us.”

This $225 million IDPH investment expands on testing currently being offered at Illinois public universities and community colleges. 

Other schools will receive a discounted fee of $10 per test.

The covidSHIELD test is a saliva-based test that quickly detects the virus that causes COVID-19.

“This is an exciting and pivotal moment for the innovative test developed at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and a welcome commitment from the state of Illinois that will make certain that thousands more of the state’s young people and those who educate them benefit from it,” University of Illinois System President Tim Killeen told the Illinois Department of Public Health. 

“I want to express my gratitude to Gov. Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health for making sure our fast, accurate, and affordable covidSHIELD system is available to offer these students and educators a safe path back to in-person instruction.”