By Jim Hagerty
Reporter

ROCKFORD – The drive-through COVID-19 testing site the UIC Health Sciences Campus fell short of its capacity Friday, but managed to conduct more than 350 tests.

“Today, at the UIC site, we tested 364 individuals,” the City of Rockford reported on its social media.

The site is able to test 500 people per day.

Officials say they expect more cases to follow the increase in testing. As of Friday, 271 people in Winnebago County have been diagnosed with COVID-19. The county has seen 14 deaths.

There were 16,124 tests administered across the state between Thursday and Friday, well exceeding for the first time Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s goal of testing 10,000 people per day. There were 2,724 new cases of  COVID-19 including 108 additional deaths reported Friday.

State officials say increased testing now shows an infection rate of about 17%, down from the 21% rate the Illinois Department of Public Health was reporting when the state was averaging around 6,000 – 8,000 tests per day.

There were 1,795 COVID-related deaths in Illinois, as of Friday, including four local fatalities–two in Winnebago County and two in Boone County.

The UIC site opens again at 8 a.m., Saturday. A second drive-through site at Auburn High School opens at 9 a.m., Monday.