UK man tests positive in UP, flies out with ‘-ve’ report

BAREILY: A British passport holder — who arrived in India on November 24 — tested positive for Covid but managed to fly out of the country on December 4 after securing a negative report from a Bareilly private lab.

SSP Rohit Singh Sajwan said: “We will take action once a complaint is lodged by the health department.”

The first sample of the man, who was born in Bareilly and works in the UK, was collected on December 3 and the report arrived the same night. However, according to the second lab’s records, the RT-PCR was collected at 9am on December 4 and the report was out by 11am. He then left for Delhi and boarded the flight at 4pm. Bareilly health department has ordered a probe against the second lab.

On December 6, his swab collected by the first lab was sent to Lucknow for further probe and the report came out positive. Dr Anurag Gautam, nodal officer for Covid in Bareilly, told TOI, "The Lucknow lab confirmed that the man was infected with the Delta variant. We are verifying the credibility of the second report ..."

TOI contacted both the labs but they refused to comment.