Center for Covid Control, a COVID-19 testing company that has come under scrutiny for allegedly providing fake COVID-19 tests, has been issued a stop-work order by the City of Auburn.

Auburn’s code enforcement team received an inquiry about the company’s business license on Jan. 13, said Dana Hinman, Director of Administration for the City of Auburn.

After investigating, code enforcement officials discovered the company was operating its testing site at 1525 A Street NE (Suite 107) in Auburn without a business license, Hinman said.

Code enforcement posted the notice on the door of the business and left a voicemail, Hinman said. No employees were present at the time — however, there was a line of people waiting to get tested, Hinman said.

On Jan. 12, the City of Lakewood issued Center for Covid Control a stop-work order for the same reason. The company is also under investigation by the Oregon Department of Justice for allegedly issuing fake or expired COVID-19 tests.

The state Department of Health said Jan. 12 it couldn’t “verify appropriate handling of test specimens, proper storage of protected health information, or results” by the Center for COVID Control. As news outlets across the country reported mounting complaints against the Center for COVID Control, the Illinois-based company announced Jan. 13 it would close all of its locations for a week, citing “unprecedented recent demand for testing.”

The City of Auburn recommends people use the King County COVID-19 testing locations tool to find legitimate, licensed testing locations near you.

If Center for Covid Control decides to purchase a business license, the city can’t stop them from re-opening unless the Attorney General deems the company an illegal operation, Hinman said.

According to the Center for Covid Control website, there are multiple locations of testing sites reported in the Puget Sound region including Seattle, Bellevue and Everett. The Daily Herald reported that the downtown Everett testing site has closed.