More Results than Tests: Beijing Arrests Dozens of Lab Staffers for Coronavirus Fraud

Police in Beijing recently detained dozens of staff members from three local diagnostic laboratories for allegedly tampering with Chinese coronavirus test samples to cut costs, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on Monday.

“Police said on Sunday that eight people from the Beijing Zhongtong Lanbo Medical Testing Laboratory were detained over allegations that the company tried to cut costs and time by mixing too many samples in one test despite knowing it would lead to inaccurate results,” the newspaper reported on May 30.

“Any illegal activity might increase the risk of spreading the pandemic,” the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau said on May 29, as quoted by the SCMP. “We have zero tolerance for that behaviour and will severely punish it according to law.”

Beijing police officers also reportedly detained 17 people from Beijing Jinzhun Medical Testing Laboratory and six people from Beijing Pushi Medical Laboratory in recent days in connection with similar alleged test tampering.

Beijing’s security bureau revoked the operating license of Beijing Pushi Medical Laboratory on May 21 after learning of a discrepancy between the number of Chinese coronavirus test results the facility had recently received and the number of samples it produced.

The Chinese Communist Party’s graft watchdog has placed three health officials in charge of Beijing Pushi Medical Laboratory under criminal investigation for fraud, according to a May 27 report by China’s Caixin Global media outlet.

“The trio, including a deputy director of Fangshan’s health commission, were responsible for supervising the Beijing Pushi medical laboratory, where six employees are being investigated for issuing more Covid [Chinese coronavirus] test results than the actual number of tests,” Caixin Global reported.

Fangshan is a district of Beijing.

“[T]he six [detained staff members] have been placed under what’s known as ‘criminal coercive measures,’ which can include residential surveillance, detention or arrest, according to local authorities,” the news outlet revealed.

The state-run China Daily detailed the fraudulent methods used by the three diagnostic companies in Beijing on May 31, writing:

The labs in Zhongtong Lanbo and Jinzhun allegedly mixed more swab samples than is prescribed in one tube. Supposing just a few of those samples contained the virus, its density would become so low that it could escape detection.

The Pushi lab was found to have records of results of fewer samples than it had collected, meaning they were not testing all the samples, leaving open the possibility of some people carrying the virus going undetected.

China Daily is owned by the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party.