San Francisco Officials Wrap Up Crackdown On Illegal COVID Testing Sites
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- After more than two months of investigation, San Francisco officials announced Friday they have shut down all of the illegal rogue COVID testing sites in the city.
City Attorney David Chiu launched the probe after illegal sites started popping up across the city during the omicron surge. Currently, he said, all of the testing operators in the city are following the required public health regulations.
"The public can rest assured that COVID testing in San Francisco is safe and legitimate," Chiu said in a news release. "After a thorough and diligent investigation, we were able to weed out the bad actors and ensure that reliable, accurate COVID tests are available to those who need it."
Chiu's office investigated approximately 100 complaints. Investigators went to the testing sites to determine their compliance with public health requirements, followed up with reporting witnesses and stayed in communication with testing site staff and leadership.
A handful of testing operators that were found to be out of compliance shut down their operations. City attorney's staff assisted other sites with only technical violations -- such as a lack of a Department of Public Works sidewalk permit -- to come into compliance so they could continue their operation.
City officials are also continuing their inquiry into testing operator Community Wellness America, Inc.
In January, the city attorney issued subpoenas for records from CWA, after it was reported that CWA was offering COVID tests on public property in San Francisco. It remains unclear whether CWA's staff had adequate training to perform the tests, whether they were working with a certified laboratory, and what they did with the information and samples collected.
CWA has yet to comply with that subpoena, and as a result, further legal action was taken on Thursday to force compliance and obtain the necessary records.