By Mark Pickering
The Aurora Public Library District (APLD) is offering free PCR testing to the general public through a partnership between the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and SHIELD Illinois that utilizes federal funds.
Beginning January 4, SHIELD has been available from 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays noon-3 p.m. and 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Fridays in Room 126 of the Santori Library, 101 S. River Street, Aurora.
The free site will remain open through April 28, and walk-ins are welcome. A phone with texting capability is needed to participate, and masks, or face coverings are required at the testing site.
Instead of a nasal swab, the COVID SHIELD test uses saliva and takes just minutes to collect. Confidential results from SHIELD Illinois are available in 24 to 48 hours through Email.
“The Aurora Public Library District is dedicated to helping our community mitigate and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic,” said events and program coordinator, Ali Lanthrum. “This resonates with our Restoring Aurora initiative within our strategic plan, and we are partnering with the Kane County Health Department and SHIELD Illinois to offer free, walk-in, COVID-19 testing at our Santori Library location. Testing is key to COVID-19 mitigation. We hope that these testing opportunities will help reduce transmission rates and support healing within our community.”
The Library District is among SHIELD Illinois’ many testing partners across the State, including more than a dozen community testing sites and more than 600 K-12 schools.
The effort is part of an agreement between the University of Illinois System and the State in the ongoing effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Federal funds from the CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan are being used to provide free testing through SHIELD Illinois.
SHIELD Illinois is the University of Illinois System’s in-state, non-profit, COVID-testing unit that uses the highly accurate saliva-based PCR COVID-SHIELD test developed at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. For more information, please visit shieldillinois.com.
The University of Illinois System is a world leader in research and discovery, and the largest educational institution in the State with more than 94,800 students, approximately 26,000 full-time equivalent faculty and staff members, and universities in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, and Springfield. The University of Illinois system awards more than 24,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees annually.