Tirana’s prosecution office confirmed to the media on Wednesday that it is launching an investigation into the American Hospital chain for fraud and smuggling of Coronavirus tests.
According to reports, Tirana’s Prosecutor General, Elisabeta Imeraj said that police have reported fraud and smuggling of the tests and that a prosecutor is due to be appointed.
In the case of an epidemic, Coronavirus tests can only be performed by the Institute of Public Health (IPH) which is also responsible for managing the situation. In addition to this, the IPH Virology Laboratory is the only one in the country that is certified by the World Health Organisation to carry out the tests.
The Coronavirus test is carried out by analysing nasal or oral secretions that are obtained via a swab. The media has reported that American Hospital is performing blood tests.
Meanwhile, in an interview with Blendi Fevziu, the director of the American Hospital, Klodian Allajbeu, confirmed that his hospital could not only perform Coronavirus tests, but had the capacity to perform 4,000 tests per day.
Allajbeu had stated that by March 30, the US Hospital was leading the reagents to begin testing.
Albana Daka, a doctor at the American Hospital, later added that privately the tests would cost 150 to 350 euros each.
The National Medicines Agency said Tuesday that it has not certified any private hospitals for coronavirus diagnosis. If it turns out that the US Hospital is conducting coronavirus tests, they are unauthorised by the IPH and WHO, and they would be profiting from the pandemic situation.
