LA County plans to stamp out fake COVID-19 testing sites – Orange County Register

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors wants to prevent fake COVID-19 testing sites from collecting personal information from people or charging them for what should be a free service.

Helen Chavez, a spokeswoman for Kathryn Barger, whose supervisor launched the petition on Tuesday, said the effort comes amid a surge in demand for COVID-19 screening and in the face of growing concerns Increase in population about suspicious, potentially illegal pop-up check-in locations. passed on Thursday.

Some Angelenos said they provided social security numbers, information from their passports, health care status and other data beyond the usual questions asked by legitimate testing facilities. request.

“As the pressing need for testing reaches critical acclaim, it is imperative that residents ensure that residents can trust that they are receiving a genuine test,” Barger wrote in a statement Tuesday. accurate and legal without putting their personal information at risk. “We must do all we can to crack down on fraudulent COVID-19 tests and websites and prevent identity theft.”

On Thursday, supervisors instructed the Department of Consumer and Business Affairs, the Department of Health, the Department of Sheriffs and other agencies to review residents’ concerns. They have 30 days to submit a report of their findings, which will form the basis of a plan to tackle the fraudulent test sites.

The number of people trying to get tested for the coronavirus has increased in recent weeks due to the emergence of a highly contagious omicron variant of the pathogen.

That has also sent the prices of home screening kits sold online skyrocketing.

“Unfortunately, as happened at the beginning of the pandemic, some are looking to profit from this emergency by increasing the price of COVID-19 home testing kits, making testing much harder, “Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer said in a news release Thursday.

He encouraged people to report potential cases of price manipulation to File a complaint onlineor by calling 213-978-8070.

Chavez said it’s unclear how many mock testing facilities may have been operating in the county. Officials will try to find out and find out what may have been done with the information collected at those locations. They will also seek to identify the people who run them and determine the legal consequences, if any, they may face.

People who are looking for covid-19 testing can find list of legal places for virus screening on the county website. They should be wary of any facility that asks for too much information or poses any problems with their health insurance, Chavez said. And there will be no legitimate website asking patients to pay.