Another probe ordered into fake Covid testing during Mahakumbh

A top Kumbh Mela official on Wednesday ordered a probe into the Covid-19 tests carried out during the Mahakumbh in April after reports that private labs contracted by the Haridwar district administration generated fake reports to meet targets during the Mahakumbh.

This is the second inquiry into the Covid-19 tests conducted in Haridwar during the Mahakumbh. Haridwar district magistrate C Ravi Shankar had earlier ordered an inquiry by a three-member panel led by the district’s chief development officer Saurabh Geharwar to probe the tests after a health department inquiry revealed that people who hadn’t given samples were sent the ‘test results’. Geharwar has to submit his report by July 26.

Officials said the Kumbh Mela authorities, in addition to the tests conducted by firms contracted by the district administration, had also empanelled 11 labs from Haridwar, Dehradun, Roorkee and Haryana for conducting Covid-19 tests.

Mahakumbh Mela (health) officer Dr Arjun Singh Sengar, who constituted the second probe team on Wednesday, said this committee would look into allegations of irregularities by private labs empanelled by them. “It has come to light that wrong data has been tabulated by some labs. We are probing this matter and due action will be taken accordingly as per the recommendations of the committee,” said Dr Sengar.

Saurabh Geharwar, the official leading the first inquiry committee, declined to comment on the progress made by his team. “We are inquiring into the matter and will submit the report in due time... can’t divulge further on this matter until the probe gets completed and is submitted,” said Geharwar.

A health official, on the condition of anonymity, said two private labs from Haryana that conducted over one lakh antigen tests in April and reported a disproportionately large number of negative results were under the scanner. The fake Covid-19 tests and other irregularities are believed to have contributed to Haridwar’s 4% 10-week average test positivity rate in April when the figure for the rest of Uttarakhand was 13.7%.The low positivity rate was often cited by officials and the Uttarakhand government to counter experts who advocated a more conservative approach in allowing people to congregate for the Mahakumbh