Chinese police investigate commercial Covid test labs over alleged fraud
- People from three companies detained in Beijing, accused of practices that led to inaccurate results
- Health authorities to inspect all private testing operations in the city
Police said on Sunday that eight people from the Beijing Zhongtong Lanbo Medical Testing Laboratory were detained over allegations that the company tried to cut costs and time by mixing too many samples in one test despite knowing it would lead to inaccurate results.
“Any illegal activity might increase the risk of spreading the pandemic,” police said. “We have zero tolerance for that behaviour and will severely punish it according to law.”
Police also detained 17 people from the Beijing Jinzhun Medical Testing Laboratory over similar alleged breaches. In addition, six people from the Beijing Pushi Medical Laboratory were taken into custody and the lab’s licence revoked on May 21 after the number of test results was significantly lower than the number of samples.
Beijing’s health commission said the government would inspect all private testing centres. The Yanqing district government said that from May 21, all the tests in the area had been conducted by public medical organisations to ensure quality.
China has been pushing for regular mass testing as a way to cut transmission of the coronavirus, urging big cities to establish a “15-minute testing circle”.