Between April 1 and 30 this year, 58 per cent of the total COVID-19 tests conducted in the state of Uttarakhand were conducted in Haridwar district, an analysis by the Social Development for Community Foundation revealed.
During the same period, the positivity rate in Haridwar district was 80 per cent less than that of Uttarakhand, Anoop Nautiyal, the founder of Foundation said while analyzing the huge disturbances in the RTPCR investigation during the Haridwar Mahakumbh.
In Haridwar, as many as 6,00,291 COVID-19 tests were conducted, and 17,375 cases were reported, resulting in a positivity rate of 2.89 per cent.
In the other 12 districts of Uttarakhand, meanwhile, 4,42,432 samples were tested for COVID-19 and 62,755 tested positive. The positivity rate in the rest of the state was 14.18 per cent.
The Maha Kumbh Mela was held from April 1 to 30 this year and was spread over Haridwar district and Rishikesh region, which includes Rishikesh in Dehradun district, Muni ki Reti in Tehri and Swargashram in Pauri.
"The COVID-19 test data of Kumbh Mela area and its results were not shared in the public domain, cases, investigations, deaths, recoveries and other information of 13 districts of Uttarakhand were being shared in the state health bulletin In this way, the complete picture of the Kumbh Mela area was never available," Nautiyal said.
He further said that the ongoing investigation in the matter should not only focus on private labs, but should cover all government labs and all agencies, which were working during that time.
Additionally, he said that due to these alleged irregularities in Haridwar, the COVID-19 data of the entire state has come under suspicion. "A judicial inquiry should be conducted not only by getting the matter investigated by the agencies of the state government. If any lab or officer is found guilty in this case, then penal action should be taken against them as per law," Nautiyal said.
He further said that after the COVID-19 situation is clear, the Uttarakhand government should issue a white paper on the investigation of coronavirus in the Kumbh Mela.
"If any error is found in the data as a final result of the investigation, the Uttarakhand government should accept these mistakes. It should not hesitate and should not hesitate to change the state figures if needed," he said.
( With inputs from ANI )
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