[SEATTLE, Wash.] – (MTN) COVID cases have steadily increased in King County, moving the region to the CDC’s medium threat level as test positivity, new cases, and hospitalizations rising again.
COVID variant Omicron has split off into a number of variants, with the current surge being driven by BA.2. According to the University of Washington Virology Lab, 85% of new cases are BA.2, so-called “stealth Omicron” and the statewide case positivity rate is 12.4%. In King County, test positivity has grown from 3.2% on March 16 to 11.6% on April 17. Hospitalizations have increased over 100% in the last week, growing from an average of 32 people countywide a week ago to 70. Area hospitals are not strained by the current round of infections, and regional numbers aren’t near the levels seen from the Delta surge in the fall of 2021, and the Omicron surge in January 2022.
The increase started four days after the Washington State Department of Health lifted the mask mandate on March 12 and companies such as Microsoft announced a return to the office.
A combination of relaxed public safety measures and waning vaccine and disease acquired immunity are contributing to the new increase. The Omicron BA.2 variant has a much higher reinfection rate than other variants, estimated at 10% to 15%, and is more contagious than the original Omicron strain.
CDC guidelines recommend that a region at COVID-19 Community Level Medium (yellow) recommends that those at high risk for severe COVID to discuss with their primary healthcare provider whether they should wear a mask. Additionally, anyone who is exhibiting COVID systems should get a PCR test.
Common symptoms of Omicron BA.2 are somewhat different from the original, Alpha and Delta variants. Additional symptoms to look for include:
Runny nose
Sore throat – moderate to severe
Diarrhea, gastric upset, particularly in children
Fatigue that is profound and severe, particularly in children
This is in addition to more typical COVID symptoms that include fever and chills, muscle and body aches, dry cough, shortness of breath/difficulty breathing, headache, and a sudden loss of taste and/or smell.
Many hands are being wrung online and privately on where the redline that triggers the beginning of World War III lie. A continuing narrative online is Russia has nukes, and they aren’t afraid to use them. When you look at the world’s involvement in Ukraine a clear picture emerges. World War III already started, and we’re moving closer from an intense cold war to a broadening hot war.
Noam Chomsky created a firestorm over Easter Weekend with his published views on Ukraine. His position could be summarized as Zelenskyy has put up a great fight, but there is no possible way to win, he needs to accept that Crimea and Donbas belong to Russia, and accept their updated terms of surrender.
To accept this with everything we know would mean turning a blind eye to 500,000 forced deportations, mass graves, systemic rape as a terror tool, forced starvation in Mariupol, filtration camps, and plans for forced reeducation of children illegally taken from Ukraine. It means ignoring over 100 hospitals bombed, over 70 cultural sites destroyed, the intentional targeting of civilians, the use of antipersonnel mines, and cluster bombs intentionally targeting civilians. It means ignoring the documented FSB raids in the Kherson Oblast on April 14 – 15, alleged torture centers, and the undeniable satellite images showing the rapid expansion of graves. It is ignoring the evidence of extrajudicial executions on roadsides and the clear torture of prisoners of war, after the video of Aiden Aslin emerged.
Why poke an angry bear? That bear has 6,000 nuclear warheads! (1,588, but I digress).
The reality?
The hot war remains in Ukraine, with insurgency and special forces operations in Belarus and the edges of Russia. Mines or drones have arrived in Romania, Turkey, Croatia, Russia, and Poland regardless of blame.
Ships flagged or owned by Estonia, Malta, Panama, Dominica, and Sri Lanka have been hit by missiles or mines – with two sunk. Turkey closed the Dardanelles and Bosphorus Straights to all warships that don’t have a homeport in the Black Sea on February 28.
Almost 100 cargo ships remain blockaded in the Black Sea, most carrying wheat and grain for Africa and the Middle East. As the blockade drags on, Egypt and Ethiopia (Tigray specifically) inch closer to a humanitarian crisis. The worst swarm of locusts in twenty-five years is devastating South Africa and Namibia. Namibia has been dealing with food insecurity issues since 2019 due to drought, corruption, and insect infestation. African and Middle Eastern students were trapped by Russian aggression, and students from Nigeria are still trapped in Kherson – completely forgotten by the world.
Countries worldwide have pledged direct military aid and humanitarian aid to Russia while sanctioning the nation.
Russia was forced to scrounge weapons from Iran, which recently showed up in Ukraine. It is not determined if these came from the Iranian government or militias.
Russia has its fingers in conflicts in Central and Eastern Africa, while the US and NATO have their fingers in conflicts in the Middle East.
India and China haven’t picked a side to date. There is little evidence that China has sent military aid to Russian beyond potentially MREs – but that hasn’t been proven. China has sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine. China hasn’t bought discounted Russian oil and restricted some bank activity. On TV and social media, even Chinese state media appears to be playing both sides – with reporters embedded with Russian military units while other sources report Russian war crimes.
China is also dealing with its worst COVID-19 crisis since the outbreak started. It has to dedicate massive internal resources in an attempt to maintain a “zero COVID” policy. China’s hospital system is too fragile to let COVID run its course as many other nations did from December 2021 to March 2022. Omicron and its growing list of variants are the most contagious viruses known to man, and the Chinese COVID vaccine works about as well as Russia’s Sputnik-V (which is to say, using accepted health measures for vaccine efficacy, it doesn’t work)
India has the world’s third-largest military budget, ahead of Russia. The nation gets most of its military hardware from Russia and imports 80% of its oil (less than 3% from Russia). Over the weekend, India canceled an order to buy 47 Mi-17 military helicopters from Russia, claiming they are working on a domestic production program.
So far, India could be described as sympathetic but not engaged. India remains belligerent toward Pakistan, and both are nuclear-armed nations.
Pakistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia have significant internal political problems. For Pakistan, the change in a new ruling alliance was brought on by internal issues. In Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, growing tension and problems appear to be brought on by Russian influence, fanning the flames of decades of hatred and conflict.
The world is already at war across every continent (except Antarctica). Globally, we are deep into Cold War II and the closest to a hot war, not a proxy war, since 1962. Internally, Russia is already messaging a population of 139,980,000 that they may have to declare war, and it is all NATO’s fault.
The irony of this is if Russia had been successful in its original war plan, then Russia would be directly up against NATO nations. Further, Russian aggression in Ukraine has likely convinced Sweden and Finland to join NATO and accelerated the European Union applications of Ukraine and Moldova.
This isn’t war- or fear-mongering – look at the map. It is our reality. The world is already at war.
[OLYMPIA, Wash.] – (MTN) Washington Governor Jay Inslee announced that the indoor mask mandate will end for most locations, including schools, on March 12. The change was made after the United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) updated national guidelines on Feb. 25, and the rapidly declining new case and hospitalization numbers in Washington state.
King County Executive Dow Constantine announced that the county would follow the state, and end its indoor mask mandate on Mar. 12.
The CDC also updated guidance removing mask requirements in schools and on buses and vans in counties with low and moderate transmission for COVID. At the time of the updated guidelines, over 70% of United States counties qualified. Masks will still be required in certain locations in compliance with CDC guidelines.
Public transporation such as buses, subways, trains, airplanes, ferries, and related transit terminals
Hospitals, nursing homes, dentists offices, and other medical facilities
Workers and residents of community living facilities such as jails, prisons, halfway houses, and homeless shelters
The requirement to show proof of vaccination at large events and indoor venues such as restaurants, bars, theaters, and gyms, is set to expire tonight. The ending of so-called vaccine passports comes two years to the day after the first Washington state COVID death was announced.
Over the last two years, 11,866 Washingtonians have lost their lives due to COVID. Nationally, 950,000 have died, equal to the entire population of Fort Worth, Texas, or almost equal to the population of Delaware.
The first official COVID death of a United States resident from community transmission happened on Feb. 26, 2020, during the nation’s first super spreader event, at Lifecare Center in Kirkland. The death was reported on Feb. 29 and EvergreenHealth Kirkland was overwhelmed with patients two weeks later.
New cases remain high from a historical standpoint according to the Washington State Department of Health (WSDoH). On Monday, WSDoH reported 241 new cases per 100,000 residents, down 85% of the Omicron peak in mid-January. Almost 81% of residents five and older have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine, and 73.2% are fully vaccinated.
[KIRKLAND, Wash.] – (MTN) Record cold is on tap for the week ahead with temperatures 15 to 20 degrees below normal. There is a slight chance for a few stray flakes of snow late Sunday night before the region dries out and a cold sun peeks through partly cloudy skies.
A weak disturbance currently developing in Eastern British Columbia will move into Eastern Washington on Sunday Night, bringing cloudy skies to the Puget Sound lowlands. A strong area of high pressure off Vancouver Island will keep the disturbance to our east, and push it southward into Oregon. As the two centers of circulation push against each other winds will increase on Monday afternoon. In the lowlands, winds will be 10 to 15 MPH from the north, with higher gusts. The north wind will pull cold air southward into Washington.
Temperatures will be in the mid-30s on Monday morning, reaching a high of 42 to 44 along the I-405 corridor. There is little support for a convergence zone to form on Sunday night, and not enough moisture to produce pockets of accumulating snow. Lows on Monday night will drop to 26 to 28 degrees. This is just the opening act.
The area of high pressure will move further east on Tuesday, while the low-pressure area will get better organized and drift to southwest Oregon. A cold front will move through the lowlands on Tuesday afternoon, with winds of 10 to 20 MPH and higher gusts, pushing additional cold air in from the Fraser Valley. Area skies will clear out before sunset, enhancing radiational cooling overnight. The daytime high will be 37 to 39, before dropping to record-cold with lows of 19 to 21 degrees.
Wednesday will be cold under mostly sunny skies with a high of 36 to 39. High clouds that move in during the late afternoon will thicken up overnight and help keep things slightly warmer. Lows will reach 26 to 28 degrees with a very slight chance of a light snow flurry with little to no accumulation.
Looking at the long-range weather model, Thursday should be a mostly sunny day. Daytime temperatures will break over 40 degrees with a high of 40 to 44. Nighttime lows will reach 23 to 27, putting the current record of 24 at risk. For now, Friday is forecasted to be a repeat a Thursday, with clouds thickening up in the evening.
Cold temperatures will bring life threatening conditions and can freeze pipes
Temperatures this low are life-threatening to the houseless. At press time, there was no information about available cold weather shelters, or what action King County officials are taking.
The coming week will also be dangerous to pets and on Tuesday night, backyard livestock. Cats and dogs will need places to escape the cold, ideally inside your house. Water bowls for animals will freeze making it impossible for them to hydrate.
Outside faucets should have hoses disconnected and be covered or wrapped to protect them from freezing. In older homes with sinks that face outside walls, setting your faucets to a weak trickle and opening the under-sink cabinet doors will help prevent pipes from freezing. Know where the water shutoff valve is for your house and make sure if you need a tool to use it, that you have one.
[OLYMPIA, Wash.] – (MTN) Governor Jay Inslee announced the statewide mask mandate in public schools, and most indoor venues will end on Mar. 21. The announcement came a day after King County officials announced the requirement to show proof of vaccination at restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues will end on Mar. 1.
Gov. Inslee showed a forecast that indicates that on Mar. 21, new COVID-related hospital admissions would drop to a level that is sustainable for medical facilities.
Additionally, the state requirement to show proof of vaccination at large events will end on Mar. 1.
Counties, municipalities, and businesses reserve the right to require mask wear or show proof of vaccination after the mandates expire next month.
COVID-related hospitalizations are down 35% from the record-setting January peak. During the week of Jan. 16, hospitals teetered on the edge of moving to crisis standards of care. the pause on non-urgent surgical procedures announced in January, expired today.
[OLYMPIA, Wash.] – (MTN) Governor Jay Inslee announced that the outdoor mask mandate would end on Feb. 18 and that it is, “no longer a matter of if, but when,” for the end of the indoor mandate.
The outdoor mask mandate was implemented on Sept. 13, as hospitalizations for the delta variant peaked in Washington. The requirement applied to large outdoor events with 500 or more people. Enforcement of the outdoor mask requirement was close to non-existent, with Lumen Field full of maskless fans through the fall and early winter, cheering for the Seattle Seahawks.
Data has shown that COVID transmission rates are significantly lower in outdoor settings and areas with excellent air circulation.
The statewide indoor mask mandate, that was brought back on Aug. 19 still stands. Gov. Inslee said that he was taking a wait-and-see approach, and would revisit ending the indoor mask mandate as early as next week. California, Illinois, New York, and Oregon have ended or announced they are ending indoor mask mandates this week.
Washington repealed almost all COVID restrictions on Jun. 30 as hospitals emptied of COVID patients and the statewide vaccination rate for residents 16 and over approached 70%. Less than two months later the state was facing record hospitalizations due to the more transmissible and virulent Delta variant, just as school was restarting.
Washington never fully exited the delta wave when the first omicron case was detected on Nov. 29. More than a half-dozen high school wrestling matches on Dec. 4 in Pierce and Thurston Counties became super spreader events. New cases of omicron exploded from the Canada border to the Columbia River flooding Western Washington hospitals during the last week of December. The combination of holiday travelers and lower vaccination rates in Eastern Washington created a secondary wave in January.
New COVID cases are declining across the state and hospitalizations have peaked on both sides of the Cascades. Despite the improvement, there are still over 1,700 COVID patients in Washington hospitals according to the Washington State Hospital Association.
With the hospital situation improving, the statewide pause of “non-urgent” surgical procedures announced last month, will come to an end on Feb. 17. When Gov. Inslee announced the 28-day pause on Jan. 20, many hospitals had already taken the extraordinary measure independently.
At the peak of the omicron wave, Washington medical facilities were brought to the brink of collapse. The darkest days were during the week of Jan. 16. In an unprecedented move during the COVID pandemic, a handful of patients were transferred by aircraft out of Western Washington to Eastern Washington and Montana hospitals. On Jan. 19, the demand for hospital beds was outstripping all available resources.
To avoid moving the state to crisis standards of care, the Washington Medical Coordination Center (WMCC) implemented a protocol called guaranteed-acceptance hospital rotation. During guaranteed-acceptance hospital rotation, larger regional hospitals took turns taking accepting transfer patients and finding some way to care for them. By Jan. 23, the peak of the crisis had passed, and the protocol was ended.
The WMCC, which operates out of Harborview Medical Center, provides assistance to hospitals that need to move patients when the institution has exhausted all other options.
In Idaho, new COVID cases peaked earlier this week with test positivity reaching 34%. Southern Idaho has been operating under crisis standards of care for almost a month, and some patients from the Boise area have been arriving in Eastern Washington hospitals. Historically Alaska, Idaho, Eastern Oregon, and Western Montana have relied on Washington hospitals to take in critically ill patients and specialized cases.
The positivity rate for COVID tests in Washington has dropped to 18%, according to the University of Washington Virology Lab. So-called stealth omicron has been detected in Washington, but there has not been an increase in cases.
Virologists believe that between the statewide vaccination rate and how transmissible the Omicron variant is, many residents have some degree of immunity. The United States Centers for Disease Control is not supportive of repealing mask mandates because nationally new case rates remain extremely high, with over 110,000 hospitalized COVID patients.
[SEATTLE, Wash.] – (MTN) On Monday, Amazon announced the company was increasing the maximum base salary for full-time corporate offices employees from $160K to $350K a year, citing competitive pressure in a hot job market. A closer look at how Amazon has compensated tech workers in the past finds that the old model no longer works, and probably never will again.
When Jeff Bezos was CEO, the mantra for hiring was Amazon wanted, “missionaries, not mercenaries.” The company hired people who were closely aligned with their company values and who were more interested in the opportunity to work for Amazon, than the base salary and benefits.
In 2021 Amazon lost 50 people at the vice president level or higher, a significant brain drain, even for a company the size of Amazon. Low pay was a reason cited by a number of employees that departed in 2021 and left the company with significant staffing gaps. It is likely that some departures were fueled by Andy Jassy moving into the CEO role. It is not uncommon in the Fortune 100 for changes to be among the executive team with a new corporate leader, even during times of high satisfaction.
Amazon compensates its corporate office employees based on 11 different pay grades. having insight into how those levels work provides a better understanding of why Amazon is having hiring challenges.
For employees at the associate level, L1 to L3 in Amazon compensation speak, the change in the salary is meaningless. The next pay levels are L4 to L6, which is the backbone of Amazon’s engineering, product planning, marketing, and operations. At the higher levels, the salary cap combined with other forces has become problematic. The next group is senior managers, which are L7 to L8, and there is no L9. L10 are vice presidents, L11 are direct reports to the CEO, and L12 is the CEO. In simplified terms, you can think of L1 to L5 as non-commissioned officers in the military and L6 as the start of the officer ranks at 2nd lieutenant. At the top, L12 is equal to a four-star general.
Prior to 2021, the total compensation model worked well for Amazon. An employee would be offered a base salary. For an L6, that typically would be $150K to $160K a year. In addition, the new employee would receive a sizeable grant for Amazon Restricted Stock Units (RSU). The stock would vest over four years but on a schedule that was advantageous for Amazon. If a new employee was offered 600 shares of stock at $500 per share (simplified example) as part of their initial compensation package, the vesting schedule would look like this.
End of first year – 5% – $15,000
End of second year – 15% – $45,000
Six months later – 20% – $60,000
End of third year – 20% – $60,000
Six months later – 20% – $60,000
End of fourth year – 20% – $60,000
Employees would receive additional RSUs depending on their role, team, and performance that vested on the same schedule. After four years of full-time employment, the packages became extremely lucrative, with multiple grants vesting 20 percent at a time every six months.
The value of the RSUs is tied directly to the performance of the stock market, so the model above assumes the stock price never changed. On Aug. 23, 2015, Amazon stock closed at $482.18. A year later the stock was at $739.61 and the year after that it reached $1038.95. The next value at each vesting window were $1,362.44, $1,802, $1670.57, and $1,992.03. The real value of those RSUs for someone starting on July 24, 2015 would vest at these amounts.
End of first year – 5% – $22,188
End of second year – 15% – $93,505
Six months later – 20% – $163,493
End of third year – 20% – $216,240
Six months later – 20% – $200,468
End of fourth year – 20% – $239.040
The original total value of the stock went from $300,000 to $934,934. That is on top of the salary capped at $160,000 a year and wait, there’s more, a two-year signing bonus.
To provide a compensation bridge for employees who hit the salary cap, and would derive little to no benefit from the RSU shares until 2-1/2 years of employment, Amazon offered signing bonuses. To keep the example simple, an L6 employee could receive a bonus offer of $90,000 in additional compensation, paid out at $50,000 in the first year and $40,000 in the second. The bonus is guaranteed as long as they stay employed.
Over four years, wrongly assuming our hypothetical middle-manager never received another RSU share or an additional cash bonus, their total compensation would be valued at $1.67 million – $417,500 a year.
The average tenure at Amazon was under 12 months, so many didn’t even make it to the first vesting window for stock. For others, two years was enough, and the pay gap that was created between the second year vest and the start of acceleration was a bridge too far. For those who could thrive in the Amazon work environment, the path to becoming a millionaire was just three to four years away, until COVID arrived.
On Feb. 26, 2020 when the first COVID-related death occurred in the United States, Amazon stock closed at $1,979.59 a share. On July 7 it broke $3,000 and the stock has spent most of its time between $3,000 and $3,400 ever since. There have been a few peaks and valleys out of that range, but they have been short-lived.
Since the summer of 2020, the stock has been, for newer hires with visions of becoming a millionaire in under four years, flatlined. The chances that $300,000 in RSUs at hiring will be worth closer to $300,000 four years later has dramatically increased.
There is room for growth. Amazon’s market cap of $1.64 trillion is equal to the GDP of Canada, and several companies, including Microsoft, have reached a $2 trillion market cap. However, the handful of stocks that have reached that milestone, haven’t climbed much higher.
The acceleration of Amazon’s success as an e-commerce platform, an entertainment platform, and a provider of cloud computing services, all fueled by COVID, broke the existing compensation model. Additionally, with many tech companies fully embracing remote work, the competitive landscape to hire new talent also created new opportunities for talent already working for Amazon.
The reinvention of Microsoft and a major change in its corporate culture, along with the presence of tech giants Google, SAP, Facebook, eBay, TikTok, and Apple, have created a cutthroat job market for tech workers. The salary cap at Amazon, a flatlined stock, ethical questions about the treatment of warehouse workers, and a high-pressure work environment has taken away much of the allure of working for the global behemoth.
The high rate of employee churn has created another problem. Thousands of highly skilled workers who used to work for Amazon would never consider returning to Amazon. Within Puget Sound, the pool of available hires has continued to shrink while remote work, and the current tight labor market provides almost unlimited opportunities for anyone who can write code.
Historically, the rewards for the resume and the bank account outweighed the reputation Amazon has for being a toxic work environment. Like other large corporations, what group someone works in and who their managers are, frequently dictated the culture within that team. Land in a team with the right manager, working in the right team, and at the right time, and the professional and personal rewards are great.
The shift in compensation model signals more than just hiring challenges. It is a signal that the days of minting millionaires by the thousands on a yearly basis are coming to an end, and Amazon is moving to what was once called a blue-chip stock.
[NOOKSACK, Wash.] – The Nooksack Nation is pushing back against a United Nations request to halt planned evictions of 63 people who were disenrolled by the tribe in 2018, and currently reside on reservation land.
The dispute began in 2013 when the First Nation of about 2,000 recognized citizens, started disenrollment of 306 people whose ancestral claims were called into question. Nooksack members have to trace their family ties to a group of homesteaders or a 1942 census conducted by the U.S. government. the “Nooksack 306” claim there was an error made in the 1980s during their enrollment, and they have legitimate membership to the Tribe.
The process moved slowly until 2018 when members of the First Nation voted to approve disenrollment. At last count, 57 people who have been disenrolled live on reservation land. Some live in affordable housing while others rent or are in rent-to-own agreements. An additional six members who have not been disenrolled, live with people who have. Of the 57, nine live in affordable housing and are facing immediate eviction. Tribal leaders claim there are 60 members of the Nooksack on a waiting list for affordable housing, including some who are homeless, and they have followed proper procedures to start the eviction process.
Tribal leaders argue that those disenrolled are from a similar First Nation but among peoples from Canada. People who are facing eviction and represented by attorney Gabe Galanda claim the requirements for enrollment are based on a census done by “colonizers.” Because of the modern-day political and geographical boundaries, the arbitrary 49th parallel border between the United States and Canada didn’t exist during the time when the Nooksack peoples had sovereignty.
On Jan. 13, Nooksack Vice Chair Rick George agreed to pause evictions until Feb. 2, on the behest of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). A BIA investigation concluded that the tribe had “adhered to the terms of the Rental Agreements and NIHA Procedures.” The investigation was narrow in scope, limited to reviewing the First Nation’s eviction process and if met the due process requirements of the Indian Civil Rights Act (ICRA).
A statement on Feb. 4 from the Nooksack Nation read, “Today the Nooksack Indian Tribe reached out the United Nations High Commissioner demanding an immediate retraction after two UN special rapporteurs failed to contact the Nooksack Indian Tribe.”
“If you are descended from a Nooksack Tribal member and an Indian, you take your proof of lineage to the enrollment office and are granted citizenship,” the statement continued. “There were over 200 people – many represented by attorney Gabe Galanda – who said they were citizens, but who did not follow the rules for citizenship.”
The Nooksack Nation was recognized in 1855 and is part of the Coast Salish Peoples.
UPDATED: Feb. 5, 2022 8:45 PM PST: Additional information has been found implying Testative is attempting to purge their connections to Northshore Clinical Labs.
[ELKTON, Md.] – (MTN) A pop-up COVID testing site in Elkton, Maryland run by Testative was ordered closed on Friday according to local reports. An anonymous source reported the site had deficiencies including not having a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) number. The closure order came in the early afternoon on Friday. The operators of Testative appear to have tried to cover up the closure, by making edits to the Google Maps listing.
Testative began opening COVID test sites on Jan. 21 in multiple states, just days after the Center for COVID Control and FCTS shuttered a nationwide network of testing locations. The Center for COVID Control is under multiple investigations by several state attorneys general, the FBI, and was sued by Washington state on Feb. 1. The company ended operations on Feb. 4 and laid off approximately 150 employees. Northshore Clinical Labs, which ran FCTS, is also the subject of numerous investigations.
On Feb. 2, the Google Maps listing for the Elkton, Maryland site listed it was run by Testative. The QR code scanned to start the testing process brought patients to a Lab Care, LLC intake page. On Feb. 5, the day after the closure order, the listing had been altered. Information claims the site is run by FCTS and lists freecovidtestingsite.com as the URL. FCTS has been defunct since mid-January and the URL goes to a page under site maintenance.
The phone number was not edited. In a story published on Feb. 2, researchers identified the phone number is used by Northshore Clinical Labs, Lab Care, LLC, and Testative. It was also connected to FCTS prior to its closure.
Google Maps listing for the Free PCR & Rapid Testing Elkton, Maryland site run by Testative, on February 2, 2022 listing the Testative website URL and a phone number shared by Testative, FCTS, Lab Care, LLC, and Northshore Clinical Labs
Google Maps listing for the Free PCR & Rapid Testing Elkton, Maryland site run by Testative, on February 5, 2022 listing the site run by FCTS and showing the URL for Free Covid Tesiting Site, formerly run by Northshore Clinical Labls – the phone number shared by Testative, FCTS, Lab Care, LLC, and Northshore Clinical Labs
Google Mapls listing for the Testative site in Elkton, Maryland on February 5, 2022, with the previous Testative company images deleted from the listing
Several key management employees of Testative are linked to FCTS. Some have attempted to purge their social media and online history in what appears to be an attempt to conceal their prior connections. A number of employees involved have relocated to Newark, Delaware from the Chicago area, or maintain dual addresses.
On Jan. 22, Testative created a Facebook page listed as Testative-FCTS, which was included in the Malcontent News story on Feb. 2. Testative has since deleted the page, but the graphics are still available through Google Images. An image uploaded to Facebook on Feb. 2 has FCTS branding and logo.
Image archive from the Facebook page for Testative-FCTS, deleted after the Malcontent News story, shows graphics uploaded on February 2, 2022 had FCTS branding – FCTS was run by Northshore Clinical Labs
Testative has partnered with Lab Care, LLC to process COVID test samples. That lab is owned by Nikola Nozinic, the co-founder of Chicago-based Lab Elite. Lab Elite and Lab Care, LLC are not under any investigation.
Lab Elite and Lab Care, LLC use technology and registration services provided by O’Hare Clinical Labs Services, through a company called OCL LIS. Francisco “Frank” Perez maintains multiple LinkedIn profiles, including one for OCL Labs and an additional one for OCL LIS. The phone number of OCL LIS is the same number for OCL Laboratory Service, which provides in-home medical testing, while the fax number for OCL Laboratory Services is a legacy number for O’Hare Clinical Labs. O’Hare Clinical Lab Services, the parent company, is currently under investigation by the state of Illinois, and received a rating of “immediate jeporady” in three categories after the most recent CMS audit.
Private labs can bill $100 per PCR test processed and government reimbursement for diagnostic testing for COVID-19 is reimbursed at the published rate by the testing provider. The CARES Act put no limit on how much can be charged for the administration of a COVID test. The Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) has paused enrollment of new providers until Feb. 11. The COVID Uninsured Claim website says that enrollment is undergoing a “process review.”
Over $500 million in reimbursements have been provided to the Center for COVID Control (Doctors Clinical Lab), Northshore Clinical Labs (FCTS), O’Hare Clinical Lab Services, and Lab Elite.
[CHICAGO, Il.] – (MTN) State and federal investigators made January a rough month for the Center for COVID Control, Doctors Clinical Laboratories, Northshore Clinical Labs, FCTS, and O’Hare Clinical Lab Services. Dozens of consumer complaints, serious deficiencies uncovered in CMS audits, and multiple investigations at a state and federal level have forced the cadre of Chicago-based companies to terminate contracts and shutter COVID testing locations. Just days after Northshore Clinical Labs shut down FCTS in mid-January, it appears the testing sites are reorganizing under a new business name.
An investigation by Malcontent News has discovered that the Chicago COVID testing machine is possibly being reborn as Testative.
Free PCR and Rapid COVID Tests jointly promoted by FCTS and Northshore Clinical Labs
A Jan. 5 Chicago Tribune article reinforced this transparent relationship. The newspaper visited a testing site operated by NorthShore Clinical Labs using the FCTS name at 321A Harlem Ave in Forest Park, Illinois on Jan. 4. The Tribune was investigating allegations of delayed and missing COVID test results.
The first domino to fall for the Chicago COVID testing cadre was the Center for COVID Control (CCC) and Doctor Clinical Laboratories. A story on Jan. 10 by WINK in Ft. Myers, Florida raised questions about the operation and caught national attention. On Jan. 14 CCC suspended its test sites for retraining. On Jan. 20 they pushed backed their reopening date and after the FBI opened a criminal investigation, the company announced it was closing its doors on Feb 4.
On Jan. 17, the website for Northshore Clinical Labs announced it was terminating all “third-party operation sites” relationships. At the same time, the website for FCTS, freecovidtestingsite.com, was reduced to a single page declaring the site is under maintenance.
The remains of the FCTS website are still available on the Internet Archive, through scans completed from Dec. 20 to Jan. 5. The contact information for FCTS lists Northshore Clinical Labs of Chicago, Illinois, as the parent company.
Using online social intelligence, researchers searched using the FCTS phone number listed on the now-shuttered website – 888-452-3287. Instead of the phone number resolving back to Northshore Clinical Labs or FCTS, it is connected to a new company – Testative. The number is also attached to a COVID testing site in Elkton, Maryland, at 1653 Elkton Road. The previous FCTS site was at 1657 Elkton Road, in the same parking lot as the new Testative location. The photos associated with the Testative site are for FCTS.
Similar results were found for a former FCTS testing site at 3751 Island Ave, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The phone number listed for the site is for FCTS, but the website is listed as Testative. While our research team was reviewing the information, a potentially fake review was added to the location by someone using the alias of YZ Hatim. Two hours earlier, the same person left a five-star review for Testative in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee location has two reviews, left almost simultaneously, by YZ Hatim and Belaal L.
A researcher with Malcontent News called the legacy phone number for FCTS. The number was answered with “customer service” and did not identify the company. Our researcher told the person they were waiting for test results from Northshore Clinical Labs. The representative stated rapid results could take up to two days and a PCR test could take up to five days. Our researcher responded they had waited for nine days already. The representative said they would find a supervisor who could help and put the researcher on hold. After a 25 minute wait, the researcher hung up.
Within a minute of hanging up, a call came in from a different phone number, 800-365-3438. The caller didn’t leave a voicemail, but a text from the same number arrived seconds later.
Text received calling a phone number associated with FCTS and Testative, asking for test results from Northshore Clinical Labs
“First, last name: Date of birth: Gender: Confirmation number: Date of Collection: Verbal Rapid results: Phone number: Email address: Location of testing-pls provide us the details.”
Text received from the phone number for testative after calling the fcts phone number and asking for test results from northshore clinical labs
Researchers used online social intelligence using the phone number 800-365-3438, and uncovered it is the phone number for Testative. The same number is listed at multiple testing locations for Testative on SolvHealth, Google Maps, and the Testative website.
Reviewing the FCTS and Testative websites found more in common than potential links to Northshore Clinical Labs and a common phone number. Much of the text and claims on the website are identical. For example, the descriptions for Rapid Testing, PCR Testing, and Workplace Testing (called Corporate Business Testing on the FCTS website archive) are for all intent and purposes the same, with only the company name changed.
“Testative offers easy employee testing services for any size business. We are partnered with over 1000 businesses around America. Our goal with this type of testing is to ensure workplace safety, and making employees feel comfortable coming to work. Testative will bring PCR Testing kits to businesses and test all your employees. Our process doesn’t disturb the workflow.”
The language for PCR testing states, “Our process is easy. Just walk in, or drive up to any of our locations, and give us a call. Test results are typically available online via email within 24-72 business hours of taking the test.“
While rapid testing also shares the same description, “Rapid testing is a quick process and gets you results almost instantly. The rapid testing process isn’t 100% accurate, so we would highly recommend getting a PCR Test done as well. Get your Rapid testing results as quick as 15 minutes verbally.“
Malcontent News has archived web pages and social media sites highlighted in this story as a permanent archive
The Testative website is built on WordPress and has numerous technical issues and mistakes. The website has no listed privacy or HIPAA policy. The site goes to great lengths to obscure who owns and manages the website or the company’s relationship with any test lab. A search on Open Corporates and the Illinois Secretary of State records found no corporate listing for Testative. An ICANN search identified GoDaddy as the DNS provider.
Another researcher called the phone number for Testative. The call went to a voicemail box, and the researcher did not leave a message. Less than a minute later, the number called back. The researcher told the caller they were trying to find test results from the Testative Milwaukee location. The customer support representative said they would send a text requesting additional information. A few minutes later, the identical text from the earlier interaction with the legacy FCTS phone number arrived.
Searching LinkedIn for Testative located a single employee – Khaalid Latifi. Latifi has listed himself as the Director of Operations for Testative since November 2020. Latifi’s former employer is FCTS where he was also a Director of Operations. He describes his role at Testative as, “Worked with other team members to establish testing locations across America. Implemented an electronic HR system to efficiently establish 100+ employees.“
It appears Latifi changed the name of his employer on LinkedIn instead of showing a change in employment, and indicates the time between both companies has run contiguously. A phone call to Latifi went unanswered, and there was no response when we went to press.
Latifi’s Facebook page has not been updated in months and does indicate he is unemployed, in contrast to his LinkedIn page. It also shows he has a brother, Belaal Latifi, who coincidentally has the same first name and last initial as a person leaving positive online reviews for Testative on Google.
Our research team found other websites affiliated with the FCTS phone number 888-452-3287, including Texas COIVD Testing and UR1stop Medical.
Texas COVID Testing has a near-identical logo to FCTS and uses the same language as Testative and FCTS. The site claims Texas COVID Testing has Walmart, Starbucks, Trader Joe’s, and ASM Global as corporate clients, claims to have 300 locations nationwide, lists the same phone number formerly used by FCTS, and is connected to Northshore Clinical Labs.
Texas COVID Testing has a similar logo to FCTS and lists the same phone number previously used by FCTS
The site lists two locations in Houston on 3222 Hillcroft Street and 9730 Southwest Freeway. According to an archive of the Center for COVID Control website, the 3222 Hillcroft Street location was a planned site for the company before their testing suspension in mid-January. A former employee of the Center for COVID Control alleges that one test site briefly sent test samples to Northshore Clinical Labs. A company spokesperson for CCC denied that claim.
The UR1stop Medical website has identical language, blog entries, and errors the archived FCTS website has. The address is to a former electronics store under a similar name, and the FAQ on the UR1stop Medical website provides information on electronics and shipping.
UR1stop Medical website lists the same phone number for FCTS, has the same footer, the same blogs, and the same date errors as the archived FCTS website
Neither website has a relevant privacy or HIPAA policy posted, lists an NPI number, or provides a CDC CLIA number for the labs they are affiliated with. None of the test sites listed resolve to an archive of FCTS sites or current Testative sites.
Testative created a Facebook page on Jan. 22, five days after Northshore Clinical Labs pulled the plug on third-party test sites and FCTS. The Facebook business page is Testative FCTS, a Medical Lab, and uses the identical artwork and color scheme from Northshore Clinical Labs.
We attempted to contact Northshore Clinical Labs and inquire about their relationships with FCTS, Testative, Texas COVID Testing, and UR1stop Medical, but we received no response.
While Northshore Clinical Labs faced growing allegations of malfeasance by clients, municipalities, school systems, and regulators, the company continued expanding operations. The expansion went unabated even after a Dec. 29 CMS audit gave Northshore an imminent jeopardy rating in three categories.
Prior to falling under the watchful eye of investigators, Northshore Clinical Labs used press releases to enhance its SEO and tout its continued expansion. By early January, the company shifted to a quieter approach. They used social media such as Facebook and promotion from local governments, companies, and schools. Although the approach lowered the public profile in the face of a growing scandal, the use of social media has left a trail of outraged clients waiting for test results.
The day after Northshore Clinical Labs announced they were ending all third-party relationships, it opened up a mass test site in Kissimmee, Florida, just outside the gates of Disneyworld. The location is backed by Osceola County and less than three weeks later, social media is filled with complaints about late, missing, and false rest results. The testing site is still operating today.
On Jan. 22. Northshore opened sites in Las Vegas two weeks after opening tests sites in Reno, Nevada, including the University of Nevada Reno (UNR). The Nevada Division of Health and Human Services opened a formal investigation into Northshore on Jan. 24, after multiple complaints emerged in the Reno area. A report by KOLO 8 News indicated an independent review of approximately 200 negative PCR test results from Northshore were actually positive. Washoe County officials suspended PCR testing by Northshore but permitted the company to continue rapid testing. Other allegations include improper testing procedures, dirty test facilities, untrained staff, and reusing PPE such as gloves.
On Feb. 1, UNR terminated its relationship with Northshore, citing “the institution’s dissatisfaction with Northshore’s service in helping to conduct on-campus COVID-19 testing for students, faculty and staff.”
In the midst of the ongoing investigations and quiet expansion, Northshore Clinical Labs told reporters and state investigators last week that earlier problems were due to unforeseen demand. In a statement to CBS Chicago 2, a spokesperson said, “No lab could have handled” the increase in cases they saw in December.”
The company recently claimed it has processed over five-million tests, which would require more equipment and staff than it appears to possess. Block Club Chicago reported that Northshore has received more than $154 million in public funds from the CDC as reimbursement for COVID testing. If both figures are accurate, taxpayers provided Northshore with $30.80 for every test they provided. Reimbursement is done by the United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as part of the CARES Act passed by the Trump Administration in March 2020. This would be in addition to money billed to insurance companies, third-party partners, individual cash payments for expedited testing services, and workplace contracts.
Northshore Clinical Labs is in no way affiliated with NorthShore University Health System or North Shore Medical Labs. Testative does not have locations in Washington state at the time of publication, but a map on its website indicates they plan to expand into Western and Eastern Washington. Northshore Clinical Labs denies having any connection with Doctors Clinical Labs and Center for COVID Control. Washington State Attorney General Robert Ferguson sued the Center of COVID Control in King County District Court on Feb. 1 for providing invalid, false, and delayed COVID-19 test results to Washingtonians, or sometimes providing no results at all.
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