Bengaluru: 4 arrested for issuing "fake" RT-PCR test report to first Omicron case in India

Bengaluru, Dec 14: The Bengaluru police have arrested four persons for allegedly issuing a "fake" negative Covid-19 certificate to help the first Omicron patient, who came to India from South Africa, to leave the country.

"Prima facie, it has been found that the South African national fled the country by getting a fake Covid-negative report. Four persons have been taken into custody, of which two are from a private laboratory and two are from a company, of which the South African national is one of the directors," Indian Express quotes a police officer as saying.

The South African national was tested positive on November 20 after he landed in the Kempegowda International Airport. He was kept under quarantine at an upscale hotel in central Bengaluru and his samples were sent to genome sequencing.

On November 27, he left the country by producing a fake Covid-negative test report following which the Bruhat Bengaluru Managara Palike lodged a complaint against the staff of the hotel and the South African national for violating the Karnataka Epidemic Diseases Act, 2020, Indian Express adds.

On December 2, it was confirmed that the patient was infected by Omicron.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra reported two more fully vaccinated people infected with the Omicron variant of COVID-19, with both having Dubai travel history, taking the tally in the country to 40 on Monday. This comes a day after Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Chandigarh reported their first Omicron case.