Indonesian pharmaceutical firm, Kimia Farma, allegedly reused nasal swab tests for Covid-19 on airport passengers, as well as producing phase test results.
The company was said to have made over S$160,000 in profits from the unethical practice.
Five workers were arrested, and admitted to “cleaning” the nasal swabs with 75% alcohol and repackaging them using double sided tape.
One of the suspects allegedly used the money to pay for the construction of his luxury home.
About 100 to 200 passengers (on average) get tested at the Kualanamu International Airport in Medan daily, and more than 9,000 passengers had been reportedly texted using the contaminated nasal swabs.
Producing false results
The company was also offering for travellers to get tested directly at the airport using their “antigen rapid test kit” instead of doing so at the hospital or clinics.
The travellers then received false results.
Images source: Kevin Fio on YouTube and Unsplash