[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Washington repealed almost all COVID restrictions on Jun. 30 as hospitals emptied of COVID patients and the statewide vaccination rate for residents 16 and over approached 70%.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 February 8, 2022, 10:15 AM:We received additional information that the safe parking programs in Kirkland do not have enough space to accommodate RVs. An earlier version of this story indicated they did.
[KIRKLAND, Wash.] – (MTN) Community members in Kirkland are expressing concern after receiving mailers from Safe Eastside claiming a Kirkland hotel King County plans to purchase for homeless housing will be a safe injection site. According to King County officials, the claims are untrue. The organization used the same messaging in Redmond, where King County purchased another property earlier this year.
The last census of the unhomed in East King County was in 2019, where a one-day count identified 393 individuals. The City of Kirkland already has a voucher program in place to provide temporary housing in hotels and has used them during winter emergencies and last June during a record heatwave.
On Feb. 3, “stakeholders” who live close to the La Quinta Inn & Suites at 10530 Northup Way received a letter notifying them that King County was in the process of buying the property to covert into “supportive housing.”
Safe Eastside is a 501(c)(4), a so-called black money PAC. Donations aren’t tax deductible but donor lists don’t need to be shared. The organization worked aggressively to try and block the King County purchase of a Redmond hotel, which also provides supportive housing for the unhomed.
Another argument presented by Safe Eastside is the property would become a safe haven for sex offenders and crime. Kirkland already has sex offenders living in the city, and the Kirkland Police Department maintains a public database on its website. Convicted sex offenders who are houseless are much harder to track by parole officers and law enforcement because they don’t have a permanent address. The transient nature of unhomed convicted sex offenders also makes them more likely to fall through the legal cracks.
The City of Kirkland’s website states, “King County’s Health Through Housing Initiative establishes partnerships with local jurisdictions County-wide to create 1,600 permanent supporting housing units for people experiencing chronic homelessness by the end of 2022.”
Kirkland already funds Catholic Community Services of Western Washington, Hopelink, Sophia Way, Muslim Community Resource Center, Congregations for the Homeless, Friends of Youth, and LifeWire. Additionally, the Lake Washington United Methodist Church runs a safe parking program for people living in cars and trucks, as well as Overlake Christian Church, and St. Jude Catholic Church.
An official decision to purchase the property has not been made, but city officials have stated that without major barriers, the purchase will likely go through in the coming weeks.
Funds for the purchase would come from King County, and an assessment by city councilmember Toby Nixon calculated the cost impact in lost tax revenue to the city would be negligible.
Historically, supportive housing which lacks wrap-around services such as job assistance, vocational training, mental health care, and addiction treatment, has increased crime and an increased need for police services. An infamous example was the Lichton Springs low-barrier tiny homes in Seattle. The vendor hired to manage the property and provide wrap-around services abdicated their role. The City of Seattle eventually closed the tiny homes down.
King County defines individuals and families who require permanent supportive housing as living with a disability and have been continuously homeless for over a year or have been houseless four or more times in the last three years. Qualified individuals and families who are placed in supportive housing receive 24/7 wraparound services which include basic needs, medical care, and case management.
King County has between 11,000 and 12,000 unhomed individuals at any given moment, and up to 40,000 of the 2.3 million residents in the county experienced houselessness at some point during a typical year. A survey done in 2020 found that almost 65 percent of the area houseless work, but have insufficient income to secure housing in the area.
Housing costs have increased without pausing since 2012 in the Puget Sound region. Rent for an average single-family home in King County has risen to $2,995 a month, according to a KING 5 article. Many landlords require three-times rent in salary to even consider an application, which is almost $9000 a month. According to the US Census, the average household income in King County is $7900 a month, and many families live on less.
Gentrification is also putting pressure on affordable housing on the east side. As an example, a property at 11258 108th Ave NE, was purchased in 2020 for $1.1 million as a teardown. The 3,900 square foot house sold after 12 days on the market for $3.2 million. A couple of doors down, 11412 108th Ave NE was purchased for $530,000 as a teardown – the replacement sold for $2.27 million.
The issues of affordable housing extend beyond Puget Sound. Boise, Idaho has a rapidly growing houseless challenge with lines of RVs on the outskirts of the city. A report by KXLY on Jan. 30 found only 24% of residents in North Idaho can afford a new home. Home prices in Coeur d’Alene have increased 47% in a year, and rents are increasing at almost the same rate.
Many home builders collapsed after the Great Recession of 2008, and the industry has never recovered. By some estimates, the United States is in need of seven million more single-family housing units. In 2021, 14% to 25% of single-family homes purchased, were bought by private equity firms or banks and converted into rentals.
Disclosure – Malcotnent News worked with Hopelink, Friends of Youth, and the Lake Washington Methodist Church Safe Parking Program in June 2021, to provide bottled water, sports drinks, towels and, sunscreen to members of the houseless community.
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) Embattled COVID testing labs Northshore Clinical Labs and O’Hare Clinical Lab Services continue to operate while under intense scrutiny from state officials. The publicly facing testing entities, Center for COVID Control and FCTS, shut down in mid-January due to multiple misconduct allegations. A new testing company called Testative started operations on Jan. 22, with strong indications they are connected to FCTS and Northshore Clinical Labs. At one Testative location in Illinois, the company has partnered with Lab Care, LLC., owned by Chicago-based Lab Elite.
Lab Elite (also listed as LabElite) was started by Nikola Nozinic and Zishan Alvi in late 2020. The company has a one-star rating with the Better Business Bureau and four complaints lodged against them. All four complaints claim they received PCR tests but never got results and have no response from the company on the status of their tests. LabElite also maintains two Facebook pages, one with 11 one-star reviews.
The same Facebook page has a promotional video showing operations at its Chicago lab located at 5820-5824 North Northwest Highway. The video was shot on Aug. 21 and shows multiple violations of United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) lab and testing protocols.
According to CDC guidelines, labs that test COVID samples must adhere to Biosafety level 2 standards (BSL2). The first requirement is secured access to the test lab with an automatically closing door. The video shows the door to the lab open to the reception area. There are no sinks or handwashing stations in the video, and images on Google do not show any sinks in the lab area.
At least two unmasked workers are shown, including one person in a designated BSL2 area wearing no protective equipment. Inches away, a person appears to be handling COVID test samples. Another person is shown administering a COVID test without wearing eye protection and using an ill-fitting mask that is not N-95 rated.
LabProspects, a company that maintains a list of medical labs across the United States, indicates that Lab Elite can process 36,000 samples a month. The database also shows that LabElite is affiliated with O’Hare Clinical Labs, a company currently under state investigation. LabProspects does not indicate how the two labs are affiliated.
The city’s announcement reported that Testative is partnered with Lab Care, LLC, and listed the website labcarellc.com. Using online social intelligence and searching using the phone number for Lab Care LLC, the number is connected to a company called JNZ Medical, LLC. JNZ Medical has an NPI number of 1851056493 assigned to Nozinic on Nov. 8. The company also has a CDC CLIA number of 14D2242519 under the name LabCare. A search of corporate and LLC records through the Illinois Secretary of State shows that Nozinic, the co-owner of Lab Elite, acquired JNZ Medical on Mar. 14, 2020.
The websites for Lab Care, LLC and Lab Elite, are identical, beyond color changes and the company branding. Both companies use a non-HIPAA compliant version of Jotform to schedule appointments.
OCL LIS hosts the intake form for Lab Care, LLC. The Chicago-based company provides consulting services, automation, process and workflow, and payment services for labs through forms.oclsolutions.com. OCL LIS states they provide HIPAA Compliance, but a review of the Lab Care, LLC page source code shows the intake form was built using Jotform.
There is nothing to indicate that OCL LIS is operating in bad faith, and the initials OCL are coincidental. OCL LIS does not have any connection to O’Hare Clinical Lab Services or its OCL branded test locations.
The disclaimer for Lab Care, LLC uses identical language as the now-defunct Center for COVID Control, including requiring the waiving of privacy and HIPAA rights.
Lab Care has a presence on Facebook that has become more active in the last two weeks. It also has an Instagram account that hasn’t been updated in almost a month.
Lab Elite, Lab Care LLC, and their co-owners Nozinic and Alvi are not under investigation by any state or federal authority. USA Today reported the company received over $80 million from the federal government for COVID testing and other services. Lab Care LLC operates under a different CDC CLIA number and business name and has not received federal reimbursement. The company has come under fire for questionable business practices and increasing consumer complaints.
In Philadelphia, pop-up testing sites appeared for Lab Elite with signage claiming the company was receiving funds from FEMA. People who stood in line to get tested reported staff asked for social security numbers. Nozinic told the Philadelphia Inquirer, “This is a complete s — show. We don’t ask for Social Security, ever.”
Nozinic blamed a subcontractor for the issues. Lab Elite closed the sites and stated they would not return to Philadelphia.
Residents of Berwyn, Illinois, are fuming online about Lab Elite’s performance. The city initially hired Northshore Clinical Labs in 2020 to provide COVID testing and fired the company in December 2020. Lab Elite was contracted, and the test site has a 2.6 rating on Google. In Facebook groups, community members are questioning the amount of due diligence the city took in choosing both providers.
To say that the Chicago-area private COVID testing landscape has turned into the wild west would be an understatement. In the last 72 hours, several COVID testing companies have arisen or expanded, filling the vacuum created by the closures of the Center for COVID Control and FCTS.
In addition to the expanding test providers, labs are growing too. Onsite Lab Corp and United Diagnostics Labs, LLC, which formed in June 2021, provide lab services for the expanding portfolio of Chicago Medical Brigade locations. The LinkedIn profile of Ike Khan, COO of United COVID Control and Chicago COVID Control, indicates that the associated lab can process up to 5,000 tests a day. Onsite Lab Corp shares space with Chicago Medical Brigade and is located in a 2,500 square foot former veterinary clinic in Evanston, Illinois.
With the official closure of the Center for COVID Control happening today, the rush to fill the testing gaps will continue. With it, an embarrassment of riches awaits for those with an NPI and CLIA number in what is now a more favorable business climate with COVID cases on the decline.
[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.
[LACEY, Wash.] – (MTN) Parked outside an empty auto repair shop in Lacey, a banner and a handmade sign declares COVID testing is available provided by OnPoint Testing. The company has 36 test sites in the Western United States, four in Washington and three in Oregon. Reviews complain about “free” tests requiring cash-only payments, unsanitary practices, delayed, inaccurate, or missing results. The owners of OnPoint went to great lengths to obscure their connections back to a Texas company that sells new and used credit card process equipment, and a “lab” connected to a strip mall in San Bruno, California.
A review of the OnPoint Testing website provided no information on the company, the owners, nor a privacy or HIPAA policy. Attempts to make connections to OnPoint to any lab, NPI, or CLIA were initially fruitless.
Searching locations and reviews on Yelp yielded another phone number for the company, attached to a testing location in San Bruno, California. The test site is located in a small strip mall on 650 El Camino Real, shared with Confidence Auto Rental and Sales. A call to the used car dealership went to voicemail and there was no return call. Google and Yelp indicate the dealership is still in business, but its URL, confidenceautos.com, redirects to ASNCars.
Yelp reviews are littered with complaints about OnPoint COVID-19 Testing and connect to a different phone number than listed on the company’s website
The phone number for OnPoint on Yelp did connect to customer service for the company and was answered after a brief hold.
Additional searching found a website for OnPoint Lab in Sugarland, Texas. This led researchers down another dead end. OnPoint Lab does offer COVID testing but is more focused on DNA and urine collection. A search on Open Corporates indicates the lab has been open since 2014. A call to their phone number was answered promptly. The person who answered indicated they had no connection to OnPoint COVID-19 testing.
Equipped with a repeating name, and with OnPoint COVID-19 Testing claiming they have an authorized lab, a review of CDC-approved labs yielded a result. OnPoint Testing CLIA number is 05D2244336 and the address for the facility is the same address as the testing site in San Bruno, California – 650 El Camino Real. The phone number for the lab is different from the 800 number listed on the OnPoint website, and the 650 number listed on Yelp.
OnPoint Testing CDC-approved lab, operating under a waiver due to COVID protocols created by the 2020 CARES ACT, is listed at being inside this building after a CDC CLIA lab search
Calling the phone number associated with ATOWN LAB and US Health Laboratories went to voicemail for ATOWN LABS. In what was another apparent dead end, there is no connection back to OnPoint COVID-19 Testing, ATOWN LAB, or US Health Laboratories, beyond a shared phone number in the CDC CLIA database.
LabProspects, based out of North Carolina, is a web portal where companies can connect with approved medical labs for services. The company is not affiliated with any COVID testing or any of the people or companies listed in this story.
Running out of options, researchers took three final steps. A search on ICANN indicated that the domain for OnPoint COVID-19 Testing was registered in February 2021 with GoDaddy by a company or agent from Texas. Using Open Corporates, there was a company incorporated in Delaware in March 2021 using the name OnPoint Testing, Inc. A final search on LinkedIn for OnPoint Testing provided a new lead. Sherif Mohamed lists himself as the Co-Founder of Onpoint Testing, in San Bruno, California. The start date of the role on his bio is March 2021. Mohamed also lists himself as the Founder and CEO of Shoperr, DigitalShopper Global, and CardMachineOutlet.com. Although he lists Onpoint Testing in San Bruno, his profile on LinkedIn indicates he is in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. That provided an additional connection to the ICANN data, and where the website for OnPoint COVID-19 is registered.
Sherif Mohamed lists himself as the CEO and co-founder of Onpoint Testing in San Bruno, California
A social search on Twitter found Mohamed and his lightly used personal account, with retweets from CardMachineOutlet. Through Mohamed’s account, the multiple retweets of Card Machine Outlet on Twitter have the same logo found on LinkedIn and indicate the company is located in Richardson, Texas.
A Sherif Mohamed is also listed as the owner of EZ Clinical Labs in New Jersey. The Instagram page has been deleted and the Facebook page has been inactive since August 2021. The website for the company lists three COVID test locations in New Jersey. The phone number is active and a person did answer the phone. Like OnPoint COVID-19 Testing, the website does not have a posted privacy or HIPAA policy, doesn’t list a CLIA number, or provides information on who owns the lab. Malcontent News cannot verify that the Sherif Mohamed associated with EZ Clinical Labs is the same Sherif Mohamed who is the CEO of OnPoint Testing.
A search for Shoperr listed two addresses. One in San Mateo, California, and another at 740 E. Campbell Road, Richardson, Texas. Malcontent News does not claim that Shoperr is associated with OnPoint COVID-19 testing.
A search for Digital Shopper Global led to a dead website. The search also linked to an abysmal Better Business Bureau rating of the company and multiple allegations of fraud. The address listed was 740 E. Campell Road, Richardson, Texas, but with a different suite number from Shoperr.
That left a final option, Card Machine Outlet. The company website lists an address of 740 E. Campell Road, Richardson, Texas, with a different suite number as Digital Shopper Global. Like Digital Shopper Global, Card Machine Outlet has a one-star BBB rating with multiple claims of fraud. Open Corporate shows CardMachineOutlet.com, LLC was dissolved by the State of Texas on August 22, 2021, due to “tax forfeiture.” A search on the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts website indicated that as of January 27, the company remained “involuntary ended.” The Comptroller site also listed a business address as 2435 North Central Expressway, Suite 440, Richardson, Texas, 75080. the contact us page for CardMachineOutlet lists both addresses connected to the company. A call to the number indicates the company is still operating.
To this point, all of the evidence that connects Mohamed to OnPoint COVID-19 Testing appears circumstantial, beyond the LinkedIn profile indicating that he is the CEO and co-founder. Searches for OnPoint led down multiple dead-ends with loose connections back to Mohamed, including OnPoint Logistics, and the CDC CLIA Lab in San Bruno, California.
Job listing for a Medical Assistant in Lacey, Washington listed by CardMachineOutlet.com on LinkedIn, January 27, 2022
The same job is listed on Indeed and ZipRecruiter, under CardMachineOutlet.com.
Job Description:
Onpoint testing is looking to hire a full-time/part-time MA!
Your job responsibilities will include: – Nose swabs -Mouth Swabs -Patient intake -Patient checkout
We are purely a COVID testing site.
Company Description
CardMachineOutlet.com is the nation leader in credit card equipment and processing service
job description listed on Ziprecruiter for a medical assistant in lacey, washington working for creditcardoutlet.com
The job posting lists 4207 Pacific Ave SE as the address for the testing location. The picture of the mobile van used for testing on the OnPoint COVID-19 Testing website shows the vehicle located at the Pacific Ave SE address and matches the building.
Google is full of reviews complaining the test location was closed despite having an appointment, delayed test results, or receiving no results at all. People who got tested were required to pay $69 in cash. OnPoint COVID-19 Testing states on its website the company does not accept insurance or gets government reimbursement. A number of consumer complaints mention SDI Labs.
OnPoint COVID-19 Testing location in Lacey, Washington on Pacific Ave SE
SDI Labs, Inc. CLIA number is 05D0642622 listed to an address in La Mirada, California. On April 10, 2020, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approval under the Emergency Use Authorization Act for the company to evaluate COVID test samples. The individual who requested the waiver was Ozman Modiuddin, CEO of Specialty Diagnostic (SDI) Laboratories.
OnPoint COVID-19 testing had images of sample test results showing SDI Labs, Inc., as the provider, but since removed them. The company has been in business since 1987, and a review of records found a single Better Business Bureau complaint not related to COVID testing. There is nothing that indicates that Modiuddin is connected to Mohamed or any of his current or previous business enterprises. Mohiuddin, nor SDI Labs have come up in any other research on other COVID testing facilities or processing labs beyond some companies sharing a registered agent. That wouldn’t be unusual and is not proof of any impropriety.
An archived image from Google that use to be on the OnPoint COVID-19 Testing website for the SeaTac Airport location in Washington. Multiple people have complained about SDI Labs in review, but there is no evidence that SDI Labs has a direct relationship with OnPoint COVID-19 Labs or its alias CardMachineOutlet
The Thurston County government website lists OnPoint as a testing location. Magen Johnson, Public Information Specialist with Thurston County, indicated the list is not an endorsement of any test provider by the county. The document is meant to be a resource for community members to be aware of possible testing locations. Johnson indicated that there would be a review of the information about OnPoint COVID-19 Testing.
Consumers have been advised to avoid mobile pop-up clinics. With so many people seeking COVID tests, desperation can take over for people who need testing for travel, work, or to visit family. People should carefully consider where they get a COVID test, and the requirements they put in place to get tested.
Editor’s Update: Since the publication of this story, NorthShore Clinical Labs has fallen under investigation by officials in the states of California, Nevada, and Illinois, and received a rating of “imminent jeopardy” in three categories in a CMS audit completed on December 29, 2021. Several of their Chicago area test sites have been closed and the Illinois Attorney General has received over 40 complaints.
[CHICAGO, Il.] – (MTN) The Center for COVID Control became a household name on Jan 13 for all the wrong reasons, with multiple investigations at a state and federal level opened against the company. Another Chicago-based COVID test facility, Northshore Clinical Labs (NCL), faces similar allegations. In addition to using a shell company called Curis Healthcare, senior leadership at NCL appears to be affiliated with a third testing lab in the Chicago suburbs.
NCL was incorporated in 1995, initially on West Birchwood Ave in Chicago. The company was run by Masood Siddiqui, who also goes by the last name Siddique. According to Dun and Bradstreet, NCL generated $1.81 million in revenue as a small but stable lab providing medical testing.
“The investors were not ready to put their money, given the situation of the lab back then. That is when Mr. Hussain and his friend bootstrapped to start the lab. His friend’s mom invested the most money in the project, and she is currently the president of the Northshore Clinical Labs.“
– Omar Hussain talking to inquirer los angeles
The website for NCL connects to an unused Twitter and Instagram account and a sparsely used Facebook page. The handful of posts is peppered with comments from frustrated clients complaining they never received test results and could not reach anyone at the lab.
The principals behind NCL are Gaurav “Kumar” Mohindra, Hirsh “Kumar” Mohindra, and Hussain. The trio has a dark past in debt collections ending in massive fines and lifetime bans by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
Gaurav “Kumar” graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a JD in Legal Studies in 2007. In 2008 he passed his bar exam and received his license to practice law in California. Online records show his license lapsed in 2014 due to non-payment.
Gaurav and Hirsh were part of a series of companies operating under the umbrella of Stark Law performing “phantom collections.” On Mar 21, 2016, the FTC and the State of Illinois filed a complaint seeking a permanent injunction and other equitable relief against Hirsh, Gaurav, and Preetesh Patel.
According to the suit, Stark Law used a host of business names to target consumers who obtained or applied for payday or other short-term loans, sometimes to pay off fake debts. The firm would threaten and pressure the victims into paying the debts with exorbitant interest rates. Stark Law allegedly called consumers and demanded immediate payment for supposedly delinquent loans, threatening consumers with lawsuits or arrest, falsely claiming they would be charged with “defrauding a financial institution” or “passing a bad check.”
Three months later, using his middle name of Kumar, Gaurav became associated with Swap Motors as the head of corporate development and project management. Swap Motors, located at 4850-4852 Main St, in Skokie, buys and sells cars – including exotic cars. The same type of cars that Akbar Ali Syed, co-founder of the Center for COVID Control, spent millions on this past summer.
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”63″ gal_title=”Northshore Clinical Labs Social Research”]
Malcontent News has preserved all the social pages and editable content for this story as an archive
On Oct 27, 2017, Gaurav, Hirsh, and Patel agreed to a stipulated final judgment and order for permanent injunction with the FTC and the State of Illinois. The FTC fined the trio a total of $47,220,491. Additionally, each was ordered to pay the FTC $85,000 directly. Gaurav and Hirsh were ordered to give up a one-kilogram gold bar stored at a safe deposit box at a JPMorgan Chase Bank in Hinsdale, Illinois. Gaurav and Meena were also ordered to sell their family home in Burr Ridge and a condo in Chicago.
For the next 20 years, the trio must submit a compliance notice within 14 days if they take up a title or role in any business activity, whether as an employee or other entity, including an ownership interest.
According to the FTC’s complaint, Global Asset Financial Services Group, LLC, doing business in North Carolina and New York, falsely claimed to be attorneys or affiliated with attorneys to pressure consumers into making payments on debts they did not owe. Like the Mohindras, Hussain’s company threatened to take legal action against consumers if they did not pay.
The FTC’s complaint named ten companies and six individuals as defendants, including Hussain.
On Dec. 6, 2019, Hussain and the other defendants entered into a stipulated final order for permanent injunction with the FTC. The defendants were blocked in engaging in any debt collections, or financial services activity in the future, and agreed to pay $8,877,564 in fines. Hussain also agreed to submit a compliance notice for the next five years, similar to Gaurav and Hirsch’s agreement in 2017.
“To support the increasing positivity rates in local communities, as well as supporting testing during the emergence of the Omicron variant, we’re expanding hours at our clinics and supporting outbreaks that our clients are experiencing with more frequent testing at their locations. Those locations can range from airports to private businesses. We’re going to support the 24/7 schedule as long as we need to.”
Just outside their doors, another reality was unfolding. Clients weren’t receiving test results and couldn’t reach anyone in customer service. Phone messages were left unanswered. The complaints against NCL, and the Chicago-based Center for COVID Control, caught the attention of the Chicago Tribune.
Chicago restauranteur Matt Diechel with Omar Hussain on Dec. 13, 2022
Diechl wrote, “After being unable to do the coat drive last year @itsomar007 and I are really excited to bring it back this year. Especially at a time when the need for kids [sic] coats is at an all time [sic] high.”
A visit to NCL website on Jan 17 revealed a pop-up message indicating that all third-party operations had been suspended.
Northshore Clinical Labs notice on their website indicates they have suspended most testing – similar to the announcement made by the Center for COVID Control on Jan. 13, 2022
“Northshore Clinical Labs has paused all third-party operation of COVID -19 testing pop-up sites, while we focus on improving processing and PCR result times during this period of extraordinarily high demand. Northshore Clinical Labs continues to support schools nursing homes and other senior living providers, and operate its own clinics to help our community through these unprecedented times”
“If you tested with a third party operator who sent specimens to Northshore Clinical Labs and you have not received your results, please e-mail us at customerservice@northshoreclinical.com.”
Consumer complaints about northshore clinical labs are increasing
Gaurav has a larger-than-life personality across social media, carefully wording his Twitter account to imply he writes for the Chicago Tribune for those without a keen eye for grammar. His Twitter account has had no activity since April 2021, but on Oct 12, he wrote a blog that allegedly was picked up by MarketWatch. The link on MarketWatch comes back with a 404 error, page not found, but the story itself is on his personal blog.
“Regular testing, specifically, allows us to monitor any growth or decline in the spread and to implement effective management of the pandemic to efficiently combat any potential spread,” says Gaurav Mohindra of Northshore Clinical Laboratories.”
“We have demonstrable data showing that an effective COVID-19 testing campaign can reduce the spread of COVID in workplaces and schools”, continued Gaurav Mohindra.”
Without much digging, there is significant evidence that the Mohindras and Hussain are running a group of shell companies to try and obfuscate their operations. The use of middle names as last names, shifting addresses, and other attempts to obscure the cross-connections between Northshore Clinical Labs, and Curis Healthcare, is sloppy at best and only adds to the suspicion around the operations. The warning lights grow brighter when you consider the fraudulent history of the principals involved and their prior court cases with the FTC and the states of Illinois, North Carolina, and New York.
Aleya Siyaj and Akbar Ali Syed have expressed their own school choice views. On an archived webpage offering free maskless in-home daycare, Siyaj publicly states she pulled their children from school over mask mandates.
Center for COVID Control CEO Aleya Siyaj offering free maskless daycare in her home, along with COVID testing
As the community turned against the Center for COVID Control, they hired Russ Keene of the Crossnore Group in Texas to handle their public relations. Keene founded Crossnore with his wife and the company only has four employees. The Keene’s are deeply politically connected, and Greg Talley who works for the group is a development associate to the American Federation for Children (AFFC), an organization that former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos chairs.
On Aug. 31, AFFC released a statement on mask mandates, urging that it is a “parental choice” issue. The same views are shared by Siyaj, and Syed and apparent benefactors of the federal COVID testing money train.
There is nothing beyond circumstantial evidence that connects the Crossnore Group to Northshore Clinical Labs or Curis Healthcare. It is quite possible that Siyaj and Syed are flush with cash and could afford the hired guns offered by Crossnore, along with the political connections. Nothing indicates that Diechl has any connection to these operations, beyond being involved with a charity trying to provide coats for children.
During this ongoing national crisis, finding a timely and accurate COVID test is a massive problem for millions. Chicago appears to be a hotbed for questionable activity and unbridled access to federal funds. The American taxpayers should be asking the question with record hospitalizations crushing the medical system, where is the oversight, and how did this cast of characters get easy access to these resources?
[KIRKLAND, Wash.] – (MTN) Washington state has set new records for COVID cases and hospitalizations, straining every aspect of life and leaving many to wonder, what is next?
Malcontent News has been tracking the Omicron wave in South Africa and the United Kingdom and using the data from these nations to build models for Washington. The path the current surge is taking aligns closely with the progression in South Africa.
New Cases
It took 28 days for the first SGTFs to show up in PCR tests in South Africa at a significant number, to the peak in cases. If Washington follows the same path, new cases in the state should peak on Jan. 17. The last update from the Washington State Department of Health (WSDOH) was supportive of an approaching statewide peak. An analysis of new case data indicated that the Olympic Peninsula, Central Puget Sound, the South Sound counties out to the Pacific Coast have already peaked. In Eastern Washington, many areas are still seven to ten days away.
In South Africa and Europe, cases declined rapidly. If Washington follows the same pattern, new daily cases will be 50 percent of peak by Feb. 2, and then drift to a plateau of 30 to 35 percent of the peak. The plateau will hold until Feb. 14, before starting to decline again.
Washington moved to test only symptomatic and close contacts on Jan. 4. Over the weekend Seattle Children’s Hospital reported they were incapable of testing most pediatric cases for COVID at urgent care clinics, reserving the dwindling supply to only the sickest of patients. The University Washington Medicine is struggling to test staff and immediate family, in compliance with the United States Centers for Disease Control CDC) guidelines.
Clark County residents have appealed to the state for additional testing resources and more access to booster shots. Among the eight locations receiving National Guard support by Jan. 24 for additional testing resources, Vancouver, Washington was not among the locations.
The University of Washington Virology lab is struggling to provide test results to Washington, and some Oregon healthcare providers, processing 12,000 to 14,000 a test a day. On Sunday, 31.9 percent were positive, creating some doubt that a peak in cases has arrived.
Hospitalizations
Hospitalizations are a trailing indicator. We predicted on Dec. 26. that Washington hospitals would run out of available resources by Jan 15. Governor Jay Inslee deployed the national guard and suspended all non-emergency surgeries on Jan. 13, to support overwhelmed hospitals.
In South Africa, seven percent of new Omicron cases resulted in hospitalizations. The unvaccinated made up 82 percent of all COVID hospitalizations. That rate was between 22 and 31 percent of the earlier Delta wave. The exact difference is hard to track after South Africa changed its testing criteria on Dec. 24, testing only people who were symptomatic or had close contacts. Adjusting for South Africa’s higher hospitalization rate versus the United States, and accounting for the lower hospitalization rate among Omicron patients, we initially estimated Washington would experience a 1.14 to 1.34 percent hospitalization rate. Currently, it is between 1.8 and 2.4 percent depending on the hospital region.
The single biggest factor that impacts the outcome of a COVID infection is age. In South Africa, only 5.7 percent of the population is over 60, while 34.1% is under 19. Although it is true that only 26% of the population is fully vaccinated, in Gauteng Province, which bore the brunt of the Omicron wave, 44 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.
In Washington, Stevens, Pend Oreille, Skamania, Asotin, Ferry, Whitman, Klickitat, and Columbia Counties have lower vaccination rates. According to the WSDOH on Thursday, 80 percent of all COVID hospitalizations statewide were unvaccinated – which mirrors the data released from South Africa on Sunday.
In South Africa, the surge of new hospitalizations peaked 10 to 14 days after the new cases reached a peak. If Washington follows that path, new hospitalizations will peak at the end of January.
Despite reports that many cases resulted in short hospitalizations, this was among vaccinated individuals. South Africa found that among unvaccinated individuals, the progress of illness was no different than prior strains of COVID.
The number of hospitalized COVID patients peaked in South Africa on Dec. 31 and remained almost unchanged through Jan. 6. Currently hospitalized coronavirus patients in the African nation are still at 83 percent of peak. The decline has been slow.
For Washington hospitals, this will be an insurmountable challenge. Although the governor announced a pause in elective surgeries statewide on Thursday, many hospitals had already voluntarily taken that step to expand resources. MultiCare reported ten days ago they were forced to implement CDC crisis staffing standards, having COVID positive workers who are experiencing mild to moderate symptoms continue to work.
An analysis of available hospital resources indicated that additional emergency staffing and converting PACUs to COVID wards added 60 to 75 acute care and 10 to 15 ICU beds statewide. With over 250 new COVID patient admissions a day, that added capacity was likely wiped out over the weekend.
If Washington follows the same hospitalization trend, by Jan. 26 the worst of the surge will be hitting our facilities. The number of COVID patients will peak on Feb. 4, and hold until Feb. 10. Although a decline will be accelerating by Feb. 20, a load of 83% of the peak would be unsustainable.
On Friday the WSDOH reported there were 2,135 COVID patients in Washington hospitals, an all-time record. Hospitalizations are increasing 50 percent every week. The IHME model projects almost 4,000 hospitalized coronavirus patients on Feb. 4, either in acute care or the ICU. If Washington follows South Africa, the number would reach 5,038 and then sustain at that level for two weeks before dropping to 4,000.
Last Monday patients were being transferred out of King County to Moses Lake, Richland, and Missoula, Montana. King County hospitals, University of Washington Medicine, and Harborview Medical Center are caring for a record number of COVID patients. In Spokane, Providence and MultiCare hospitals can’t take transfers. Doctors reported angry and desperate phone calls from rural hospitals trying to move patients to larger facilities.
MultiCare and Providence hospitals on both sides of the mountains have deployed tents again. In Everett, Providence Hospital was treating patients in the emergency department waiting room and the halls are lined with patients waiting for beds.
Deaths
Looking to South Africa, the number of deaths from Omicron was significantly lower compared to Delta. The age of the population, a 66% vaccination rate for those over 50, a historically lower COVID death rate compared to Europe and North America, and more available resources contributed to the better outcomes. Additionally, it is summer in South Africa.
COVID-related deaths started to increase on Dec. 11. It is unknown if deaths have reached a peak yet, but on Jan. 16, the 7-day moving average was 105 deaths a day. All signs in South Africa indicate the Omicron surge is reaching its finality.
In Washington, the population is older and in poorer health. Vaccination rates are higher, but almost one-third of the entire population is not only unvaccinated but politically indoctrinated into the status being part of their identity. They not only dismiss vaccination but all proven public health measures such as indoor mask wear.
Unlike prior waves in Washington, Omicron overwhelmed the larger and better equipped Puget Sound region facilities first. Idaho is starting to surge with new cases and Oregon is straining under its own tidal wave of cases. COVID patients in Eastern Washington will have fewer options than ever before.
If Washington follows the same as South Africa, COVID-related deaths will start to peak in mid-February.
Services and Infrastructure
It is estimated eight to ten percent of all American workers are sick, caring for a sick family member, or quarantining. The United States was already dealing with a worker shortage in 2021, which has been made worse by Omicron. By early February, up to 25 percent of all Washington workers could be sidelined with COVID.
Some of the impacts have already rippled through the region. Empty store shelves, recently restocked after the mountain passes reopened, will struggle to stay full. Pharmacists are warning people to refill their medications now, unsure of their ability to serve the community and have an adequate supply of pills.
Postal workers are driving routes for 12 to 16 hours to fulfill deliveries, and school districts are looking for parent volunteers or moving to virtual learning. In some cities such as Seattle, students have staged walkouts due to high infection rates. In Lakewood, the Walmart Super Center was forced to close for three days for a deep cleaning after 63 workers became sick with COVID.
The day-to-day impact for everyone will include school and daycare closures, spotty store shelves, delayed deliveries, and businesses forced into short-term closures due to a lack of staff. The economic fallout could last for much longer.
Without a dramatic increase in support, state healthcare workers and Washington residents will face a brutal five to six weeks where only the absolute sickest individuals will be able to get medical services, and basic goods and services will require patience to find.
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