JAKARTA – Several employees of a pharmaceutical company have been arrested for allegedly washing and reselling used coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) nasal swab test kits.
According to the police up to 9,000 passengers at an airport in Medan may have been tested with the reused swab sticks.
Following complaints from the passengers that they received false test results, the police raided the test site and found a used test kit that had been recycled.
State-owned company Kimia Farma is reportedly facing a potential lawsuit launched on behalf of the travellers.
Police said the scam had been happening since December at Kualanamu airport in Medan, North Sumatra.(BBC)