Gov. JB Pritzker announced two additional drive-through testing sites for COVID-19, including one in Rockford at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at 1601 Parkview Ave.

Once open on Friday, the site will be able to collect 500 specimens each day from residents who have symptoms that could be related to the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Another such site opened Wednesday in Aurora.

In addition to three other existing sites, including one in Bloomington, the total capacity of all locations will be 2,900 tests a day.

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Meanwhile, state officials announced an additional 2,049 confirmed cases of COVID-19 throughout the state and 98 additional deaths related to the disease.

It’s the highest number of daily confirmed cases to date, which Pritzker attributed to the fact that the state processed a greater number of tests than any previous day, with more than 9,000 samples evaluated.

Wednesday’s number means 35,108 cases have been diagnosed and 1,565 Illinoisans have died so far.

Pritzker also was asked about a proposal by Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara to permit small retailers to reopen with social-distancing restrictions, and to more clearly restrict sales of nonessential goods by so-called big-box retailers.

Pritzker said he wasn’t familiar with the details of the proposal but said he was interested in looking at how it would be configured.

Asked about continued restrictions on downstate areas that are showing fewer cases than Chicago and the collar counties, Pritzker said he continued to look at "hospital (bed) availability and other factors to determine how we might think about changes for people who live in areas that don’t have quite as virulent" of a spread of the disease.

State Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike also urged residents to continue their social-distancing efforts to help stem the spread of the coronavirus.

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