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An Illinois-based coronavirus testing company with at least 13 sites in Washington, faked or delayed test results (or provided none at all), lied to patients and failed to properly store test samples, according to a lawsuit filed Monday by Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson. The lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court, describes how the company, Center for COVID Control, expanded to about 300 U.S. locations and allegedly took advantage of residents at a time when frequent testing was in high demand as a “critical tool in the fight against COVID-19.” (Takahama, 1/31)

Meijer announced plans Monday to offer at-home COVID-19 PCR tests free to customers throughout the Midwest at its locations with pharmacies. The Grand Rapids-based grocery store chain is partnering with eTrueNorth, a Texas-based health care technology company, to provide at-home versions of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, which experts believe to be the most accurate COVID-19 exam. According to a press release, Meijer is the first retail pharmacy to offer PCR tests at no charge. (Weber, 1/31)

New York City has begun offering free, same day at-home delivery of COVID-19 antiviral pills to eligible residents although supplies remain limited. The program was announced by Mayor Eric Adams at a press conference Sunday at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx. (Kekatos, 1/31)

Santa Clara County on Monday began requiring healthcare providers to offer patients a COVID-19 test within 24 hours in an attempt to shift more testing responsibility to hospitals and clinics who the county says haven’t been doing their part. “The county has been carrying a disproportionate burden of testing throughout the pandemic,” said Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody at a press conference Monday. “By a very wide margin.” The new stricter guideline narrows the county’s previous rules in September 2020 that required providers to get back to members by the end of the following day after a request for a test. (Greschler, 1/31)

A major public health tenet is that testing is critical for controlling viral spread, but Cristina San Martin could have found plenty of reasons not to test for COVID-19. At-home rapid tests have been sold out, and lines at lab testing sites have wrapped around the block and booked a week in advance. As a dog washer at a grooming salon, San Martin can't afford $150 to test at an urgent-care site. (Noguchi, 2/1)

On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control reported more than half a million new positive cases of COVID, a daily figure that serves as a crucial barometer for a nation muddling its way through the Omicron wave. But the actual number of new infections, which may well be higher, is a mystery — just like the overall number of people who have been infected so far. Two years after COVID began spreading in this country, the United States is operating with patchy and incomplete data about the virus, a problem experts say has hampered the response to one variant after another and leaves the country just as vulnerable to the next one. (Bidgood, 2/1)