Where to get tested for COVID-19 in Chicago
By: Ambar Alejandra Casas Rosales
Have you had contact with someone who tested positive in the last few days? Are you traveling soon? or do you just want to be safe and know whether you have COVID-19? Keep reading to find out where your closest testing site is located.
The COVID-19 outbreak was declared a pandemic almost a year ago (March 11, 2020). Back at the beginning of 2020, no one could ever imagine the next year would be filled with lockdowns, masks, tests, vaccines, and more.
Although COVID-19 is still present and life hasn’t completely gone back to normal, there is now hope and joy surrounding the topic as more people are getting vaccinated daily. Nevertheless, having people vaccinated and slowly coming out of the pandemic does not mean that we should stop taking care and precautions.
To take precautions and prioritize safety, if you need to get tested and live in Chicago, the map above can help you locate your closest testing site. If you are in the downtown area there are more probabilities for you to have a testing center close to you. But, if you aren’t there should still be at least one testing site in your neighborhood or area.
The map above shows the different testing sites for COVID-19 there are in the city of Chicago. As seen in the maps, with a total of 147 centers, almost every neighborhood in Chicago has accessibility to at least one close center. But, there is a clear concentration of more centers in the downtown area of the city.
With a total of 247,510 confirmed cases throughout the pandemic and
3,455,099 tests made, it is clear why there are so many testing sites in Chicago. People need to have access to these sites in order for the government and health officials to keep track of the cases and the spread. But, there still needs to be more work done and establish more accessible centers for neighborhoods with a Latinx or African American-based community. These communities have been the most affected by the virus in regards to cases and deaths, but they are the areas with the least testing sites.
Generally speaking, even though some areas could use more testing sites, there is a good spread of sites throughout the city, and there is most likely one near you.
