• Friday, March 29, 2024

HEADLINE STORY

Uttarakhand orders probe into ‘fake Covid tests’ at April Kumbh Mela

A health worker collects a nasal swab sample from a Hindu devotee in India in April 2021. (Photo by XAVIER GALIANA/AFP via Getty Images)

By: Shubham Ghosh

The northern Indian state of Uttarakhand has sought a police inquiry into allegations of private labs filing fake reports related to Covid-19. According to media reports, fake names, mobile numbers and addresses were used in more than 100,000 tests that were held during the Kumbh festival in the state in April. The private labs were hired by the Uttarakhand state authorities to screen the visitors for Covid which wreaked havoc in the country around that time.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of Uttarakhand faced heavy criticism for organising the festival that attracted millions of people even as the country faced surging cases. It was alleged that people who returned from the festival to various states of the country ended up spreading the virus further and infected more people. Unmasked visitors were seen at the largest Hindu festival even as several parts of India struggled to find enough oxygen cylinders and hospital beds for the Covid-affected.

Uttarakhand orders probe into 'fake Covid tests' at April Kumbh Mela
Naga Sadhus (Hindu holy men) take a holy dip in the waters of the Ganges River on the day of Shahi Snan (royal bath) during the ongoing religious Kumbh Mela festival, in Haridwar on April 12, 2021. (Photo by MONEY SHARMA/AFP via Getty Images)

Same phone numbers, addresses used
It was then that officials said that every visitor was being screened for the disease and private labs in Haryana and Delhi were roped in to conduct the majority of the tests. Last week, media reports came out saying the labs faked the reports to meet their quota of daily testing. Same phone numbers and addresses were used in several Covid reports.

Subodh Uniyal, a spokesperson for the Uttarakhand government, told ANI news agency that orders have been filed to file a case against the labs that conducted testing at five places in Haridwar during Kumbh.

The Times of India conducted an investigation and reported on Thursday (17) that a private agency, which was given the contract for Covid testing related to Kumbh and is now under the scanner for conducting 100,000 fake cases, had submitted dubious office addresses to the Uttarakhand health department and listed phone numbers that are not in use.

Fake Covid reports also found in Bihar
Reports of fake Covid tests have also surfaced from Bihar, another northern state, where some primary healthcare centers have been accused of giving false data. In February, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar admitted about the fake data-entry pertaining to Covid in his state and said its health department had been asked to take strong steps against the guilty. In shocking revelations, it was found that in districts like Jamui, Sheikhpura and Patna, the government hospitals mentioned phone numbers as ‘0000000000’ in Covid test reports. Officials have also been accused of taking bribe besides making fake Covid test reports.

Meanwhile, the Indian government on Wednesday (16) defended its action to increase the gap between two doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine up to 16 weeks even though three scientific advisers said there was no agreement over the step.

On Tuesday (15), Reuters reported that the government raised the gap in May without the approval of the scientific group that it claimed had recommended the move. The AstraZeneca jab, made locally and branded Covishield, accounts for nearly 90 percent of the 263 million doses that have been administered in India so far. The Opposition slammed the Modi government asking whether the decision to increase the gap was prompted by a shortage of the vaccine.

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