The Ri-Bhoi Deputy Commissioner, RM Kurbah, has contradicted the statement reported in certain sections of the press today by Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong about the use of supposed fake Covid test results at the Umling checkpoint.
Tynsong reportedly said that the state government had been aware that fake negative test results were being sold to entrants to Meghalaya at the Umling screening facility in Ri-Bhoi.
Kurbah, however, described the accusation as fake news and demanded that those who have spread it prove it in public.
Social media was used to spread the ‘news’ that officials at the facility and even taxi drivers were helping entrants to get fake negative reports for a fee.
The DC stood by the staff of the checkpoint, saying that they are working to the best of their ability to get the job done at the earliest so that people are not stranded at the facility for too long.
At present only RT-PCR tests are conducted at Umling, the samples of which are not processed there but sent to Shillong. However, in the past the rapid antigen test, which was taken and processed at Umling, was an option at the checkpoint for entrants.
