DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – Damascus resident Lojain Muhammad says that she paid 65,000 Syrian pounds (SYP) to an employee working in a coronavirus testing center to change her test result to negative so that she could travel to Beirut.
Muhammad told North Press, “I got a chance to attend a workshop in Beirut, and one of the conditions for it is that I get a PCR test that is valid for 96 hours.”
“I tested positive, but with the help of the center’s employee, the test result turned negative,” she added.
Residents resort to falsifying the result of the coronavirus test for several reasons, including traveling or obtaining a job interview.
After the virus’ outbreak in Syria, the Ministry of Health opened coronavirus testing centers in Damascus, Rif-Dimashq, Aleppo, Latakia, Homs, and Tartous, and required those who wish to travel from Syria to get a PCR test.
The ministry stated that the electronic platform that it launched on its website is the only way to book an appointment for a PCR test due to travel, and stressed the need to book an appointment through that platform before going to any center.
In March, coronavirus testing centers in Damascus witnessed heavy crowding to take the test with the intention of traveling.
Earlier, Shibli al-Khoury, director of laboratories at the Ministry of Health, revealed to the Hashtag Syria website that the Directorate of Laboratories gives handwritten results, which are subject to extortion, bargaining, and bribery to change the test’s result from positive to negative.
However, he denied that there was any fraudulent operation of any COVID-19 tests, saying, “The problem is in the big number of swabs we have, which exceeded 2,000 swabs within days – ten times more than our capabilities, which does not exceed 30 to 40 tests maximum.
Fake ‘COVID-free’ certificates
On Friday, the media office of the Ministry of Health of the Syrian government recorded 28 new coronavirus infections and five deaths in its areas of control.
The total toll of the infections in the government-held areas has come up to 24,619, including 1,787 deaths and 21,625 recoveries.
On May 15, the Ministry of Interior in the Damascus government announced that the Criminal Security Department had arrested a taxi driver, referred to as A.S., for falsifying PCR test results in exchange for sums of money amounting to between 150,000 and 180,000 SYP.
Last February, the ministry announced the arrest of five people, including a woman, for forging documents and PCR tests.
The statement of the Ministry of the Interior, according to what was published on the ministry’s Facebook page, added that the gang was setting up and defrauding the residents out of large sums of money, promising that they could obtain ‘COVID-free’ certificates without taking the necessary smear.
A general internal specialist said, “Those who conduct coronavirus tests in most centers do not take the swab regularly.”
Paying money
Samar al-Khazem, an employee working in a private banking sector, did not need the center’s employee “to falsify the result of PCR tests in exchange for a sum of money, as the result was already negative.”
Al-Khazem said that COVID-19 testing centers in Damascus falsify reports for those who want it, as the center’s employee offered to change the result of her test to negative if she was infected.
The cost of PCR tests in government centers is $100 (equivalent to 250,000 SYP) after the Central Bank adjusted the exchange rate from 1256 SYP to 2500 SYP in mid-April.
Youssef Hussein, a worker in a private pharmaceutical laboratory, underwent a COVID-19 test after his manager requested it.
Fearing that he would remain unemployed for two weeks, Hussein asked an employee to change the result, offering to pay 50,000 SYP.
“The days I don’t work, I can’t feed my children, so I had to rig my PCR test,” Hussein said.