Fake Covid-19 certificate: Testing postponed at 4 city labs

The Department of Health has ordered a temporary halt in sample testing at four private labs in the capital upon allegations of the labs issuing false Covid-19 test certificates.

The labs have also been instructed to stop taking Covid-19 samples at booths outside their building premises.

The temporarily closed labs are CSBF Health Centre, Stemz Health Care, Al Jami Diagnostic Centre, and the Mirpur branch of Medinova Medical Services Limited.

Dr Farid Hossain Miah, director (Hospitals and Clinics) of the Department of Health, told  reporters the action was taken after initial allegations were proved true, that the clinics were giving false Covid-19 test reports.

Earlier on Wednesday, the private labs were told in a letter signed by Dr Farid Hossain Miah that several allegations, including that of giving fake Covid-19 reports to passengers going abroad, had been made against several labs and the Department of Health has found truth in these allegations.

"Such immoral acts are a threat to public health and have severely damaged the country's image," the letter read.

The Department of Health has also imposed strict guidelines on all private hospitals and labs in the country that have been approved for RT-PCR testing.

The Department of Health said that test samples of passengers going abroad cannot be collected from their home under any circumstances.

And while collecting samples from passengers travelling abroad, their original passport needs to be verified and when filling up the form, the passport number needs to be mentioned.

A photocopy of the passport is not acceptable, according to the guidelines.

Passengers going abroad will have to show a Covid-19 test certificate and passport number at the airport, the Department of Health said, adding that if a person has a positive report within the past seven days, they will not be allowed to leave the country.