COVID testing site in Jacksonville temporarily shut down, under investigation

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A COVID-19 testing site in Jacksonville, one of 275 under investigation, has been temporarily shut down.

A company known as the Center for Covid Control is under fire after getting several complaints from people in multiple states.

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The Better Business Bureau reports 22 complaints from across the country of people waiting several days for their results.

A mother was frustrated when she found the COVID testing site on West Bay Street in Downtown Jacksonville was shut down.

“I wasted my gas twice; I came yesterday, and they was was closed yesterday,” she said.

The BBB reports the Center for Covid Control has halted operations at all of its sites across the United States.

The mother, whose family members have used the site before, suspects her loved ones may have received inaccurate results.

“They told a special one to me that she got COVID, but she got tested again and she (doesn’t have) COVID, so I’m just trying to see if the tests really work here or not,” she said.

Action News Jax asked Tom Stephens with the Better Business Bureau of Northeast Florida if he thinks the site is legitimate.

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He responded, “At this point in time I would not say it’s a fraud or a scam, it’s just the businesses (has) challenges because of the volume of the people that are trying to use their services,” Stephens explained.

According to the Center for Covid Control’s website, its testing sites were overwhelmed by a recent spike in demand from people getting tested during and soon after the holidays.

In a release, the company said it normally processed 8,000 tests a day, but in a few weeks that number spiked to over 80,000 tests a day.

“That could be the explanation for why the test results are late,” Stephens said.

Click here to read about who you can check with to test the legitimacy of a COVID-19 testing site.

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