Probe ordered against lab that conducted Covid tests at Amritsar airport

Manmeet Singh Gill

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 8

After a large number of flyers from Italy tested “false positive” for Covid-19 in the past two days, the Health Department has initiated a probe against the private lab conducting the tests at the international airport here.

The airport authority has also replaced the Delhi-based testing agency with a local lab. The decision was taken after many of the passengers tested negative in the retest conducted by the Health Department.

A total of 125 passengers on a flight from Italy had tested positive for Covid-19 on January 6. Again on January 7, 172 of the total 285 passengers on a flight from Italy had tested positive.

The probe was initiated after a large number of returnees had alleged malpractices on part of the lab. The passengers had even created ruckus at the airport.

With a large number of passengers testing positive, a few of them had raised objections and demanded that a retest should be done.

Health officials said many of the passengers, who had tested positive initially, tested negative in the retest conducted a few hours later. Civil Surgeon Dr Charanjit Singh confirmed the agency conducting the tests of the passengers on arrival at the airport had been changed. He said an investigation was also being conducted into the functioning of the agency engaged by the airport authority earlier.