‘Fake’ Covid reviews issued throughout Kumbh; probe on

The Uttarakhand authorities has ordered an investigation into allegations that faux Covid-19 take a look at reviews had been issued by a non-public laboratory roped in for conducting random assessments throughout the Kumbh Mela, with different labs, too, more likely to come beneath the scanner.
The grand spiritual pageant, which noticed lakhs of devotees congregating in a pandemic yr, was held from April 1 to 30 in an space unfold throughout components of Haridwar, Dehradun, Tehri and Pauri districts.
The challenge of faux reviews emerged when the ICMR flagged the case of a Punjab resident with a senior Health Department officer in Uttarakhand. Sources stated this individual, who was in Punjab throughout the Kumbh interval, acquired an SMS that his pattern had been collected for a Covid-19 take a look at. He reported the matter to ICMR by means of electronic mail alleging that his Aadhaar and cell quantity had been misused for a faux take a look at.
The Uttarakhand official performed a preliminary inquiry into all of the assessments performed by that specific lab throughout the mela and really useful an in depth inquiry after discovering that extra such faux reviews had been issued utilizing particulars of various folks.
The lab that’s dealing with the inquiry had been assigned the duty of conducting Rapid Antigen assessments within the mela space.
At least 24 non-public labs had been roped in — 14 by the district administration and 10 by the Kumbh mela administration — for conducting random testing of Kumbh guests.
Notably, the Uttarakhand High Court had set a day by day testing quota of fifty,000 assessments throughout the Kumbh Mela.
Haridwar District Magistrate C Ravishankar stated a three-member committee beneath the Chief Development Officer has been constituted to conduct the inquiry.

He stated assessments performed by different non-public labs may even be investigated on the idea of the findings from the primary lab. The committee has 15 days to submit its report.
The District Magistrate stated that if the allegations of faux Covid reviews are discovered true, an FIR can be registered and additional motion can be initiated.
Mela Health Officer Arjun Singh Sengar stated the mela administration had roped in 10 ICMR-approved non-public labs which performed over 2.52 lakh assessments — together with each RT-PCR and Rapid Antigen Tests — throughout the Kumbh interval. The cumulative fee owed to them is Rs 9.45 crore.

Sengar stated a nodal officer has been deputed to test Specimen Referral Form IDs and different information earlier than clearing the fee for the opposite labs. The lab beneath investigation, too, is but to receives a commission.
A senior official stated: “Such matters have come to notice in the past as well and it was found that phone message goes to another persons due to wrong submission of IDs and contact details due to typing error. In many cases, people provide wrong details to authorities to avoid tracing if found positive.”