HAWTHORNE, Calif. — The California Department of Public Health says several fraudulent testing sites have popped up across the state and in LA County.

As they investigate, the City of Hawthorne has opened a new, legitimate site at the Betty Ainsworth Sports Center to give the community peace of mind. 

The City of Hawthorne says to combat significant testing shortages magnifying the strain on families across the region, they have collaborated with Reliant Health Services to offer free COVID testing.

Every day, Allyson Watson prays for tests to come back positive because as a fertility nurse it means her patient is pregnant. However, when she was tested for COVID at the new site, she had her fingers crossed for a negative result.

“I came because one of our tests came back positive and another one came back negative. So I came to get a PCR done so that way I can go back to work,” Watson explained.

Reliant Health Services is offering both rapid antigen and PCR tests with quick results, free, even without insurance. They say with the omicron variant, most of the transmission occurs before people even have symptoms, so it is critical that these testing options are easily accessed.

Ashley Davis is a doctor of pharmacy who has been traveling across the country vaccinating and testing communities for nearly a year.

“It’s very important and I don’t think that people are finding the importance of doing this just yet, as they should,” Davis said.

But in Hawthorne, there’s already a long line of people waiting for testing. Councilwoman Angie Reyes English says the city opened this site to offer crucial access for her community that has been hard hit by COVID and like her, many residents have jobs that require weekly testing.

After waiting in line at a Carson hospital for five hours to be tested, she said she had to intervene.

“That was a Monday. I didn’t get my results until Saturday,” Councilwoman Reyes English said. “By the time I got my results, guess what? Who cares? I needed to get tested again by Tuesday.”

She said another reason they opened this site was to ensure residents have a legitimate place to be tested as fraudulent sites pop up across LA County.

It is an issue South Gate Councilwoman Denise Diaz said they have struggled to combat over the last few weeks. Of five sites they have visited, four were fraudulent, including one that was right in front of Walgreens. 

“Residents were letting me know that they never received their COVID results,” she said. “They would come, they actually asked them for cash, they asked them for their social security and they were desperate.”

She is encouraging her constituents to only use vetted testing sites listed on county or city websites, like the one in Hawthorne. Watson said it feels good to have the confidence that her results can be trusted.

“You just don’t want to infect somebody else who is healthy,” she said.

Hoping everyone just does his or her part to stop the spread.

The new Hawthorne site is open Tuesday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the next six months.

If you know of a fraudulent testing site in South Gate, city staff ask that you contact police dispatch at 323-563-5436.