Introduction:

 alarm bells rang on Monday when health officials  nj real estate exam online urged residents to avoid testing at pop-up tents, warning new jersey real estate courses  that test collectors had falsely identified themselves as FEMA partners and may have even asked for Social Security numbers.

Nikola Nozinic, Lab Elite’s owner in Chicago, did not hide his exasperation when he learned he had problems in Philly.

“We don’t ask for Social Security, ever.”

Where to get a free COVID test in Philadelphia

Lab Elite, a federally accredited toxicology lab founded in 2020, blamed the issue on a New Jersey-based subcontractor that another contractor hired to collect the test samples in Philadelphia. Lab Elite said personal data provided to them is secure and they expedited test results Monday, after the city’s warning made headlines.

In response to the pop-up tents, Philadelphia officials said they’re working to set up a regulatory process for testing sites, including inspections and potential sanctions. The city didn’t immediately have more details to offer about that process.

But issues in Philadelphia are also vexing officials nationwide amid a record-breaking surge in COVID-19 cases: There’s a shortage of available tests; new companies have quickly emerged to fill the void, many run by entrepreneurs without medical experience; and city and state officials don’t regulate and aren’t always aware of testing operations.

And there’s no immediate end in sight to testing issues.  The city is also working to purchase rapid tests, and contract with more providers for testing, said Health Department spokesperson James Garrow.

Here are some tips from the Philadelphia Department of Public Health for assessing whether a testing site is trustworthy:

Look for logos of institutions on the paperwork.

• Testing sites may ask for your insurance but should not charge you for testing.
• Testing sites shouldn’t ask for your social security number.

The pandemic has created opportunities for entrepreneurs to jump into the business of testing and vaccination — and not all of them are qualified or reputable, as Philadelphia officials learned last year from their ill-fated partnership with the college students who started Philly Fighting COVID.

Concerns about disreputable

testing sites have ramped up in recent days, with cities such as Chicago, St. Louis, and Jersey City also warning residents about fraudulent pop-ups.

Philly officials warn residents against using pop-up COVID-19 testing sites in Center City

The operation and financing of COVID-19 testing sites can be complex, and can involve multiple companies. instead, the testing company bills their health insurance or the federal government. The Pennsylvania Department of Health regulates laboratories that analyze test samples for COVID-19, but not the testing operations themselves.

In the case of Lab Elite, the company runs a laboratory in Chicago that contracts with other companies to collect and send them samples to test. A company new jersey real estate courses  called Digital Dash collects samples for Lab Elite in Chicago, and co-owner Azeem Macci said a New Jersey-based firm contacted him about starting a similar operation in Philadelphia.

Macci said Digital Dash trained representatives from that company, LP Global Inc., and sent them test kits to use. But he said he didn’t provide brochures with the FEMA logo — which caused city officials to question the operation.

The incident also raises questions about the reliability of test samples handled by unregulated groups. Stanley Weiss, physician and professor of medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, said even the most proven operators can lose or mishandle test samples, compromising individual results or the reliability of testing data.

“It’s just unacceptable,” Weiss said.

» READ MORE: What to know about the accuracy of rapid at-home COVID-19 tests

Lab Elite’s testing tents shut down on Friday, just days after they opened.

Zishan Alvi, Lab Elite’s president, said only his laboratory received personal information and photos of people’s drivers licenses.

because the online forms went straight to his servers in Chicago. And those forms don’t include Social Security numbers, he emphasized.

Alvi said.

Although Lab Elite is an accredited lab, its executives don’t have experience in the medical field.

Nozinic is a business owner with over a dozen companies under his belt in the Chicago area,

from a real estate group to a plumbing business to a bar called the Aberdeen Taproom.

With the pandemic entering its third year, new jersey real estate courses Nozinic’s lab business is booming. It reported more than $1.1 million in revenue last year, according to public records. But he said it is not in business to make a quick buck.

“We’re in for the long term,” he said, noting his company offers other toxicology tests.

But Lab Elite isn’t planning to do any more tests in Philadelphia. ”I kind of have a bad taste,” Alvi said. “We should have never went in the first place but I cannot go back. The only thing we can do is just get everybody’s results out.”

conclusion:

 He said people who have visited pop-up sites and haven’t received results should call the provider.“We have no evidence that these tents are a scam, new jersey real estate courses  but we also have no evidence that they aren’t,” Garrow said. “Our worry is that, given …