(Image: Public Health Seattle and King County)
Health officials are warning about a company offering free COVID-19 testing that may be leading patients astray at locations across Seattle including on Capitol Hill.
In an alert issued Thursday, Public Health Seattle and King County said it is concerned that the lab that processes the results for the pop-up testing sites from Community Wellness America “has sent no positive results” to local authorities or the Washington State Department of Health “after several weeks of operation in King County, raising concerns that CWA may not be properly processing test specimens.”
Public Health said to be on the lookout for sites where “testing staff are not using appropriate personal protective equipment,” “personal information collected from individuals is held insecurely,” and tests are promoted as free “but paperwork fine print indicates that people could potentially be billed.”
“COVID-19 testing remains essential, and people who have symptoms or who have been exposed should get tested promptly. This is important to both identify illness early so that people can get the care that they need and to prevent spread to family, friends and others,” Dr. Jeff Duchin, Health Officer for Public Health said in the alert. “We have many free testing options in King County that provide reliable results. People need to be aware of unusual testing offers that may not be trustworthy.”
Officials say the sites they are concerned about can be easy to spot — “Tests are promoted as free (on signs in large red letters)” — but that the people working some of them have also “falsely claimed to be ‘with public health.'”
For more information on testing options and locations, visit kingcounty.gov.
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A woman at this pop-up outside QFC on Broadway tried to get my attention, asking if I have gotten tested yet. Similar to how some folks approach you to sign a petition. Super shady!
They also apparently were tricking people by implying that they were associated with the state, which they are not.
I was one of the people who reported this over a month ago.
While King Co. Public Health was very helpful processing my report, the Covid WA hotline was literally useless. Told me that it was “probably legitimate”, the website looked “real” (it does not), and that I shouldn’t be concerned. I was pretty disappointed.
Also, Community Wellness America claims on their website to be a 501(c)(3), but at least with the IRS search I found no record of them.
Getting overbearingly strong Scientology vibes from their little pop-up stand in the picture.
I’d been wondering about these testing sites. They seemed pretty suspicious to me to begin with and now I’ll definitely keep avoiding them.
I can’t imagine what the health department could possibly do here other than issue a warning notice to the public.
I’ve heard about these pop-ups before and apparently it’s an insurance scam. They take your information and will then submit a claim to your insurance company.