Mumbai: Andheri woman tests positive, negative on same day; corporator calls it a Covid-19 scam

The positive and negative Covid-19 test reports of Shabista Aklekar

Two positive and negative Covid-19 test reports on the same day have left an Andheri-based woman confused and disappointed at the same time, as she could not travel to Bahrain to meet her husband, who works there, and lost Rs 1 lakh of the ticket price in the process.

When she reached the airport with her daughter on May 9, the on-duty officials told her that her RT-PCR test report had expired and that she needed to undergo a test, the result of which came positive. However, the result of another test that she underwent at a BMC hospital later the same day came negative. Following this, Congress corporator Sufiyan Vanu, who had reached the airport to help her, wrote a letter to the chief minister, Mayor of Mumbai and the civic chief, demanding an inquiry into the matter.

According to the letter, the RT-PCR test report that the woman, Shabista Aklekar, was carrying on the day of her travel was a negative one. But when she underwent a test at the airport testing lab, her result came positive, and she was asked to undergo institutional quarantine at a nearby hotel along with her child. When local corporator Vanu got to know about Aklekar's plight, she quickly reached the airport to help her. Vanu took her to a BMC hospital and got a test done, the result for which came negative. The corporator has raised questions on how a test conducted at 10.30 am at the airport lab turns positive and another conducted the same day at 3.30 pm turns negative.

Vanu shared a video on Facebook regarding the matter and alleged that it was a money-earning racket. Speaking to mid-day, Vanu said, "Lot of corruption is happening in the name of hotel quarantine. The matter should be investigated."

When mid-day contacted Aklekar, she said, "We are a middle-class family and my husband has been working in Bahrain for the past over two years. He could not come to India due to the pandemic, hence I was going to meet him. But I was not allowed to go as the airport officials said the report had expired. Because of this I lost more than R1 lakh. Who will compensate me now? Whoever is responsible should do it." When contacted, BMC Additional Commissioner Suresh Kakani said, "BMC will find out how a woman's report comes both positive and negative on the same day. In this case we will also enquire with the airport lab where she got tested."