Uttarakhand Reported Fake COVID-19 Cases, Asked For Police Report

Uttarakhand, a state in northern India, reported fake COVID-19 cases and has ordered a police inquiry of these cases being filed at private labs.

On the occasion of the Kumbh Festival, which was held in April, fake names, mobile numbers and addresses were used to file more than 100,000 tests.

These private labs were hired by the state for the screening of COVID cases.

The state was heavily criticized for holding the festival despite the pandemic situation in the country.

As a result, there were reports from other states that suggested that the virus spread out rapidly when people visited the festival returned o their states.

The visitors crowded the Kumbh Festival in April as several Indian cities faced a severe shortage of oxygen cylinders and beds at hospitals.

According to officials, every visitor was screened for the COVID at private labs, based in Haryana and Delhi. These labs were hired to conduct the majority of the tests.

However last week, Indian media reported that these labs made up the reports to meet their daily testing quotas.

The phone numbers and addresses collected from Kumbh Mela visitors were being used to create hundreds of reports. “Orders have been issued to file a case against labs from Delhi and Haryana, which conducted testing at five places in Haridwar during Kumbh Mela,” Subodh Uniyal, Uttarakhand government spokesperson, told ANI news agency.

Kumbh Mela is a religious festival held in India every 12 years. It attracts many visitors from all over India and the rest of the world.

Experts had warned to cancel the festival because of the deadly second wave. However, the government gave permission the hold the festival and allowed people from other states to take part.

The northern state of Bihar also reported fake COVID reports where some primary healthcare centres have been accused of fudging data.

India is currently battling the second wave of COVID-19, which turned out to be more deadly than the previous one.

A total of 29.7 million cases have been registered so far in India with a death toll of 382,000. However, the number of recovered people is 28.5 million.

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