An administrative disaster has hit Lucknow as 2,290 people who tested positive for COVID-19 from July 23 to July 31 in the city submit false personal information to various authorities during their coronavirus tests. This information includes their names, contact number and residential address which are tracked and monitored by the administration for updates.
Added Pressures in a Pandemic
As many as 2,290 patients who were tested positive in a course of 9 days in Lucknow have been found guilty of providing false information to the pubic administration system. The issue was brought into notice when the administration faced problems in contacting people with respect to their test reports. This is not only an obscene crime during a raging pandemic but has also added on to the struggles of the administration in monitoring and controlling the infection and transmission rates in the city.
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The district administration immediately sought the help of the surveillance division of the UP Police after which 1,171 people were traced and admitted to the hospitals. The remainder 1,119 patients are still untraceable and the efforts to locate them are underway.
Legal action is also to be taken against these people for providing wrong information about themselves to the administration.
Sujit Pandey, Commissioner of Police Lucknow, said, “Thousands of tests were done to break the chain of the coronavirus infection. People were tested at camps set up at several places in Lucknow. During this, some people submitted their wrong name, address and contact numbers. When a probe was initiated, the names and addresses were found to be wrong. We have traced down 1,171 till date, while efforts are on to trace down the remaining patients.”
People will now have to substantiate their personal information and “All the hospitals and labs conducting tests are now directed to verify the details of the patients at their end before taking their samples.”, Pandey further added.
This development has not only emerged as a setback to the front line corona warriors but also to the city’s recovery rate. As the administration fights an extra battle to trace over a thousand positive patients, the threat of infection and transmission among other citizens has further increased.
-With inputs from IANS
