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The Company is Not Registered or Licensed in New Jersey
Authorities say a company that advertised COVID-19 testing with next-day results at a residence in Brick Township on Facebook has been ordered to cease operations.
Safe Sites LLC, a firm, began giving the testing in late December at a home on Kettle Creek Drive, and advertised it on Facebook groups.
"COVID testing drive up. No wait no lines results by tomorrow" is what was stated in a post by SafeSites LLC, on Dec. 28 in the Overheard in Brick group, with a 732 phone number for more information. The ads were placed at a time when people were desperately looking for COVID-19 testing over the holidays.
SafeSites LLC does not appear to be a New Jersey-registered limited liability corporation, and it does not have a website. Callers to an 800 number provided on the Facebook page are sent to a 732 number, which is also mentioned on the Facebook page and on the ad. "WRONG NUMBER" is the response to text messages sent to that 732 number.
Anyone who called the 732 number until just before New Year's was told they could come to the Kettle Creek Drive home and get a rapid test and results the same day for $50 per person, or for $65, four people in a car could get PCR tests and results sent to them the next day in PDF (portable document file) format.
According to the Ocean County Health Department and Brick Township officials, the home's testing has been halted. However, the corporation has declined to answer any queries about its operations, licenses, or other issues.
Attempts to reach Marylin Morales, who placed the SafeSites ad in Overheard in Brick, via Facebook were unsuccessful, as were attempts to contact SafeSites LLC via phone and email.
The Ocean County Health Department's public health coordinator, Daniel Regenye, said he followed Bryan Dickerson, Brick's acting code enforcement supervisor, to the Kettle Creek residence, where the owner was advised to stop.
Dickerson stated that he had issued two violation notices "for breaking zoning ordinances she (the proprietor) has stopped testing and is now in full conformity with the law."
According to Nancy Kearney, communications manager for the state Department of Health, the facility lacked a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments Permit to conduct testing and a New Jersey State Authorization to collect test specimens in the home.
"A CLIA is required for all testing sites," Kearney stated.
The Safe Sites LLC Facebook page remained online as of Thursday afternoon, despite the fact that testing appears to have stopped at the Brick Township residence. Although listings of mobile testing in Brick, Barnegat, and Passaic that existed before New Year's have been removed, the phone number listed in the ad in Overheard in Brick remains the contact number.