Brasília health secretary arrested for defrauded Covid-19 test purchases

Francisco Araújo, Health Secretary of Brazil’s federal capital Brasília, was arrested on Tuesday morning in a police operation investigating fraud in purchases of Covid-19 testing kits. This came as part of the second stage of Operation False Negative, which scrutinizes irregularities in public procurements for coronavirus-related material by state authorities. Law enforcement says authorities bought low-quality materials for inflated prices. 

Besides Mr. Araújo, five other high-ranked officials were placed under arrest. Similar warrants are being carried out in eight other states. Governor Ibaneis Rocha, elected on a promise to renew local politics, has not commented on the operation.

The case is not only a corruption scandal, but a public health issue, too. The poor-quality material purchased by Brasília authorities has a high rate of false-negative Covid-19 test results, increasing the risks of contaminated people wrongly believing that they have not been infected — and thus potentially becoming spreaders.

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