The COVID-19 Pandemic has been hard on everyone. Businesses have been shuttered, children have been out of school, and everyone who can has had to adapt to the concept of working from home. Unfortunately, there seems to be a new bit of Silver Lake news concerning a rather novel pandemic pitfall: phony covid testing locations. Yes, you read that right. There is a growing concern in Silver Lake and on the eastside of Los Angeles that some locations purporting to offer COVID-19 testing may not be operating on the level.
Beware of Where You Test
Aside from the most prominently dystopian sights, we have all become accustomed to thanks to the coronavirus–boarded-up windows; eerie, if welcome reprieves from LA traffic–small tents and pop-up COVID-19 testing areas are now appearing on Silver Lake streets. While these makeshift testing locations would seem to offer a measure of convenience in a very inconvenient time, they may not be what they appear to be.
Council District 13, which is home to Silver Lake and Echo Park, has received some interesting tips from residents regarding the veracity of these temporary testing sites. For their part, the Council District Office has said that they are working with the County Department of Public Health to investigate these claims. In the meantime, they are encouraging residents to exercise caution when utilizing any local health services.
Do Not Fall Prey to Would-be Scammers
It is worth noting that nothing concrete has been found to indicate the existence of fraudulent testing centers in Silver Lake. Still, local agencies and officials are not ruling it out. The Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs has reported that residents have claimed to have visited testing sites and never received their results.
A scam is a scam, and COVID-19 profiteers are many–and sometimes ethically dubious. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), for example, has reported a significant volume of consumers who were billed for ostensibly free COVID-19 tests.
Keep watchful for phony testers. You can always check to see if a testing site is listed on the county health department website. Other common-sense measures can also help. For instance, you should never need to provide a social security number, and other generally unprofessional behavior in a medical setting should be cause for alarm.
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