Amidst the global pandemic, many countries still have tight border control policies in place, including the requirement of negative RT-PCR reports for the COVID-19 tests. However, some people, in order to dodge these restrictions, are getting fake reports done in Nepal. 

On Thursday, officials at Nepal’s Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) nabbed around 110 people who were carrying fake RT-PCR reports to board international flights, as per a report in The Himalayan Times. Those denied entry on Thursday include 29 Nepalis, 19 Indians, and two Pakistanis. They were all released following a stern warning. 

32 passengers of Salam Air, 36 of Jazeera Air, and 54 of Air Arabia flight were not allowed to board planes on Thursday, informed Pratap Babu Tiwari, the general manager of the airport. All the reports were issued by a Sooriya Health Care Pvt Ltd. 

The tip-off came after the police raided the hospital, and found that they were issuing fake PCR reports without even collecting lab samples. For each negative report, they were charging around $75. 

Officials said they were working on ways to reduce crowd at the airport which saw around 12000 people daily taking flights for different destinations. Officials have been instructed to scan the reports carefully, keeping in mind the usage of fake reports by travelers.