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Rapid COVID-19 testing is now available at the Curative McHenry Testing Center, 906 N. Richmond Road, McHenry, a company spokesman said.
With Rapid ID Now PCR testing, results are available in less than an hour, Curative senior communications manger Pasquale Gianni said. The company contracts with the McHenry County Department of Health to provide for local coronavirus testing.
As compared to home coronavirus tests, the rapid PCR test offers better quality control and training for those administering the tests, Gianni said.
The rapid PCR tests are offered for only patients with insurance, Gianni said, adding that PCR tests sent to a lab are still offered with no out-of-pocket cost for patients. The McHenry site will no longer offer COVID-19 antigen testing.
The addition comes as McHenry County moved to a “medium” level of community COVID-19 transmission, according to the McHenry County Department of Health.
The number of cases per 100,000 residents has been generally rising for the last 10 days, reaching 182 cases over seven days as of Saturday from a low of 152 cases over seven days as of June 16, according to county data.
The share of intensive care unit beds available across McHenry and Lake counties has fallen precipitously from a high of 31% on June 24 to 24% as of Wednesday, according to a seven-day rolling average reported by the Illinois Department of Public Health. The average number of people being admitted to the hospital each day has been hovered between two and three in McHenry County since June 14.
The McHenry testing site is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and closed Saturday and Sunday. It will also be closed Monday for the holiday.
After serving as a county-run vaccination site, the health department shifted operations to Curative, a private COVID-19 health care provider, in June 2021 and it subsequently also began offering testing at the site.
The company has tested 24,000 patients to date at the location, he said. The highest demand for testing was between September and February.
“While the vaccine program ramped down in September 2021, testing demand and positivity saw a steep incline,” Gianni said.
Over the last 30 days, from May 29 to June 29, Curative McHenry has provided COVID-19 testing to 286 people, with a 24% positivity rate or 67 people in total, according numbers provided by the company.