Video of Man Packing COVID Test Kit Shared With Misleading Claim

Mohammad Hassan and Nitesh Kumar allegedly packed the COVID test kits without taking samples in UP’s Basti.

A video of two healthcare workers packing a COVID test kit without actually taking the sample was shared with a misleading claim wherein the identity of only one of them was revealed.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A video of a man packing a COVID test kit without even taking the sample is being circulated to claim that a ward boy by the name of ‘Hassan’ is behind the act.

However, we found that the claim is misleading as two healthcare workers – ward boy Mohammad Hassan and lab technician Nitesh Kumar – were involved in the incident that took place in Uttar Pradesh’s Basti. An FIR has been registered against both of them.

CLAIM

Media outlet Sudarshan News shared the video, mentioning only Hassan’s name and accusing him of the crime. The video shared by the channel had garnered over 34,000 views at the time of publishing the article.

You can view the archived version here.(Source: Twitter/ Screenshot)

Sudarshan News’ Editor-in-Chief Suresh Chavhanke, too, shared the video with the same claim. The claim further spread on Facebook and Twitter and the archived version of the posts can be viewed here, here and here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

We found another tweet by Sudarshan News that suggested that the incident took place in Basti in Uttar Pradesh and mentioned that the district magistrate of Basti, Saumya Agarwal, had taken cognisance of the incident.

On Wednesday, 2 June, the Twitter account of DM Basti shared that an FIR had been registered against two persons and the ward boy seen in the video had been suspended.

(Source: Twitter/ Screenshot)

Further, we came across a PTI report that mentioned that police had booked two health workers, identified as lab technician Nitesh Kumar and ward boy Mohammad Hassan.

Dr Anuj Kumar, chief medical officer of Basti reportedly suspended Hassan and ordered the termination of Kumar’s services.

In the video, it can be seen that Hassan filled the form with the details of an elderly man waiting for his COVID test while Kumar opened the test kit and packed it without taking the sample, the PTI report mentioned.

Officials said that this act would result in the “test not showing any valid result and spoiling the kit”.

The FIR against Kumar and Hassan has been registered under Section 188 of IPC (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and Section 3 of the Epidemic Act, PTI reported quoting the police.

Speaking to The Quint’s WebQoof team, SN Pandey, Inspector at Nagar police station where the FIR was registered, said that it had been lodged against two persons.

An article by The Times of India, too, corroborated with the aforementioned details of the incident that took place at Manjharia Primary Health Centre in Basti’s Mahripur village.

Evidently, a video of two healthcare workers packing a COVID test kit without actually taking the sample was shared with a misleading claim wherein the identity of only one of them was revealed.

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