In Amritsar, India, a test contract from the local health authority for the arrival tests has been released. The background is that it has been found that the high positive rates of the last few days are due to sloppiness on the part of the laboratory.

It caused quite a stir in India that on several charter flights operated by EuroAtlantic Airways between Italy and Amritsar, noticeably many passengers tested positive for the corona virus in the mandatory arrival tests. The positive rate was sometimes well over 60 percent.

The competent authority initially quarantined the passengers concerned, but they were surprised by the extent and ordered the repetition of the PCR tests. This time the samples were evaluated in a different laboratory and according to "New Indian Express" the vast majority of those tested are said to be negative.

The health authorities then took a closer look at the first laboratory and, according to local media reports, found serious deficiencies and sloppiness in handling the samples. The cooperation with this laboratory was terminated with immediate effect, according to the health department. The passengers quarantined due to false-positive results have now been released from institutional isolation.