After allegations of fake Covid-19 reports issued by a private lab during Kumbh Mela did rounds, the Uttarakhand government has ordered investigations. Other labs too are likely to come under the scanner, an IE report said.
Kumbh Mela 2021, held from April 1 to April 30, saw lakhs of devotees gathering at the ghats of Haridwar, Dehradun, Tehri, and Pauri districts for ‘Shahi Snan’ and other festivities. When a individual residing in Punjab through the Kumbh reported to ICMR that his Aadhaar and mobile quantity had been misused for a fake Covid-19 test, the authoritative body flagged the case with a senior Health Department officer in Uttarakhand, calling for prompt action.
The overall health officials ordered a preliminary inquiry into all Covid-19 tests carried out by the lab through the mela dates and on locating more such fake reports issued misusing ID information of quite a few persons, advisable a detailed inquiry on the very same.
The lab below scanner was assigned with the process of conducting Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) of devotees and volunteers by Kumbh authorities in the Mela region. 24 such labs had been assigned the duty to conduct RAT by the district administration and Kumbh Mela administration right after the state High court set a every day target of 50,000 tests through the Mela.
A 3-member committee below the Chief Development Officer has been constituted to conduct the inquiry who will investigate all the private labs and submit a report in 15 days time, informed the Haridwar District Magistrate C Ravishankar. If the allegations are proved to be accurate, FIR will be registered against the labs involved and additional action will be taken in this regard, added the DM.
According to Mela Health Officer Arjun Singh Sengar, 10 ICMR-authorized private labs had been roped in to conduct 2.52 lakh Covid tests, such as each RT-PCR and RAT, through the 30 days of Kumbh Mela cumulative Rs 9.45 crore was spent on the very same. A nodal officer was additional deputed to supervise the Specimen Referral Form IDs and other information just before the payment went out to the labs. The lab below the scanner is however to acquire the payment.
A senior official, nonetheless, named this a typing error in numerous circumstances due to the incorrect submission of IDS and get in touch with information to the server that sends SMS. He additional mentioned that in numerous circumstances the sample giver supplies wring information to authorities to stay clear of get in touch with tracing if discovered Covid-19 positive.