I went to one of their sites in Michigan twice last week. The first time it took around 7 hours to get results from my antigen test, the second time only about two hours, but I certainly wasn’t getting results even before I took the test. Both times were negative, though.
I agree with what another commenter said about their web site seeming sketchy, but with the shortage of tests in the US at the moment it was the only place I could find a rapid test without scheduling days in advance. Maybe now we know why…
They almost certainly have already, considering their prime audience are those that have Covid symptoms and thus are much more likely than the general population to actually have Covid.
Still some wrinkles in the business model, but you can make a killing if you get out at the right time.
ETA: Using my own precognitive abilities, I foresee an executive’s attorney explaining that the accused should not go to jail, as they’re afraid of covid.
I have to wonder: is this a response to market demand(eg. people procrastinating on getting tested for things that require a negative test until the turnaround for a real test is too long/wanting to get cleared for return to work as soon as possible); a pure scam with assumptions of impunity(if you don’t expect to get punished and (probably) oppose the public health efforts you are helping to hamper; why bother with plausibility?); or so abjectly amateur hour that the operators didn’t bother, or didn’t succeed, in adding some delays to their notification system to emulate a plausible turnaround time?
Some combination of the above? Florida man tweaking on bath salts can PCR cycle so fast polite norms of consensus causality dissolve?
What’s there to wonder about, when they gave negative results before the test was even taken?
The real questions are:
Why is this company stealing people’s money and threatening public health?
How will they be punished?
How will similar future fuckery be prevented?
