Company linked to complaints about 'bogus' COVID-19 tests at work in Cincinnati

The sign above the door said "BARBER SHOP" in bright red letters, but the people waiting in the cold outside Wednesday morning weren't there for a haircut.

Wearing masks and bundled in winter coats, the half dozen men and women in the parking lot of this White Oak strip mall were taking turns going into the former barbershop to get a COVID-19 test. It's one of the dozens of test sites that have popped up around the Cincinnati region during the biggest surge in COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began two years ago.

Unlike many of those test sites, however, this one isn't on the list vetted by local health officials. Instead, it's run by a company that's facing scrutiny across the country for offering tests that some have complained are unreliable.

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On Thursday, those mounting complaints prompted the Center for COVID Control, which runs the test sites, to halt operations nationwide for one week until it retrains its staff and better prepares for the high demand for tests.

“We’ve made this difficult decision to temporarily pause all operations, until we are confident that all collection sites are meeting our high standards for quality," said Aleya Siyaj, the company's founder and CEO.

The Illinois-based company claims to operate hundreds of testing sites across the country, including at least five in southwest Ohio. The other local sites on the company's website are in Finneytown, Anderson Township, West Chester Township and East Price Hill.

A spokesman for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services told The Enquirer on Wednesday that the government agency has "received multiple complaints from different state agencies regarding the Center for COVID Control and temporary testing sites." He did not describe the nature of those complaints, but he said all would be investigated.

The Oregon Department of Justice and the Better Business Bureau also launched investigations Wednesday into the Center for COVID Control. USA TODAY reported last week that some people who have used the company's sites have complained about "fake" tests, long wait times for results and questionable practices at the sites.

The tests provided at the company's sites are free, but people who schedule an appointment are asked online to provide personal information, including an address, a driver's license number, a photo of themselves, their health insurance provider and other details.

Greater Cincinnati's Health Collaborative has received two complaints about the test sites here. One said the test "was bogus" and another said it took seven days to get a positive test result.

The collaborative, the trade association for the region's hospital systems, recommends people use its list of approved test sites before venturing out for a test, because every site on the list has been vetted by local health officials.

"We do not have the Center for COVID Control on there," said Shannan Schmitt, a spokeswoman for the Health Collaborative.

Cincinnati Health Department spokeswoman Ashanti Salter said the city agency has no association with the Center for COVID Control. "We've never heard of that company," she said.

The company's test site in White Oak, at the former barbershop, was open and busy Wednesday. A large poster advertising "FREE COVID-19 TESTING" covered half the storefront window, alongside several hand-written signs with instructions to those seeking a test.

Inside, two workers in scrubs occupied seats at two folding tables, each with small bins filled with swabs and other components of COVID rapid tests.

People took turns going inside. When they entered the small room, one worker checked them in on a laptop and another handed them a swab. Each person swabbed their own nose before handing it back to the worker, who then placed it in a small bottle of solution to begin the testing process.

The workers told people they did not have the more accurate PCR tests, only the rapid tests, which they said were "66% accurate."

Studies have found the reliability of rapid tests can vary widely, ranging from less than 60% to more than 95%, depending on the quality of the test and whether the person is experiencing symptoms. It's not clear which test was being administered at the White Oak site.

One of the workers, who would not give his name, said he'd been working at the site for a few weeks and typically tests 300 to 400 people a day. He said he got the job after someone saw his resume online and contacted him.

He sat at the table with a small white strip from a recent test in front of him. He said the results of the test, which was positive, would be sent to the person who took it within 30 minutes via email.

"The moment their results come back, their results will be sent out," he said.

Outside, Tina Munafo waited her turn. The White Oak resident said she'd previously tested positive for COVID-19 and couldn't return to her job as a physical therapist until she tested negative. Because demand for tests is so high, she said she was unable to get an appointment anywhere else.

Asked if she had heard about the complaints related to the Center for COVID Control, Munafo said she hadn't. "It would certainly concern me if it was true," she said.

A handwritten sign on the door explains that the tests are free and no health insurance is required. But before getting a test, people are asked to go online to fill out a form that requires them to provide personal information, including their full name, a driver's license or passport number, a photo, the person's health insurance provider, their address, date of birth, cell phone and email.

Calls to the company's main number and to the other testing sites went unanswered. An email to the company also was not answered.

USA TODAY got similar results when it contacted the company last week. People in Chicago and the Chicago suburbs; Houston; Saint Paul, Minnesota; and Rochester, New York, told USA TODAY they experienced issues at the company's test sites.

One said his 3-year-old son never received his results. Another said he got three different test results. Another said she went days without getting a test result and, when she finally did, the test ended up being inaccurate.

Zach Zerom, a 27-year-old Rochester resident, described a scene at a Rochester test site that was similar to the test site in White Oak: handwritten signs posted outside and two card tables set up inside. He said he left without taking the test after reading online reviews about the site.

"The whole operation just seemed real shady," he said.

Health officials say accurate testing is essential because it's the only way people can make informed decisions about their health and the health of those around them. That's especially true now, they say, because the new omicron variant of the coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, is so contagious.

Salter, the city health department spokeswoman, said it's also important that all test sites report their results to Ohio's health department so the agency can accurately track the course of the pandemic.

As for choosing a test site, Salter urged people to check out the sites before going and to use only those vetted by health officials.

"You have to be an informed consumer," she said.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: COVID test complaints: Company with Cincinnati sites under scrutiny