The Kolkata Traffic Police, which recently reintroduced the breathalyzer test after a gap of 20 months, is facing problems in its use due to a surge in Covid-19 cases in the city.
After objections were raised by drivers for undergoing drink-driving tests, Kolkata cops had earlier said that they will use disposable straws in breathalyzers. But drivers claimed that most of the time only one common pipe was being used for the test.
Recently, police conducted a search at the EM bypass. One by one the cars, motorbikes was parked and the policemen were examining the driver with breathalyzer. After examination, the driver of two cars and a bike, the on-duty policeman approached the driver of the fourth car and said, “Blow on this pipe.” The driver refused and questioned why he would blow a pipe which has been already used.
It has been alleged that the experiments were carried out in several parts of the city at night in the name of testing with breathalyzer.
The commuters claimed that the cops were not wearing gloves so they did not touch the pipes that were used for mouths. Sources told News18 that policemen often do not get time to disinfect the instrument or pipe as many drunk drivers flee during the process of disinfecting the device.
According to police, action was taken against 160 people for drunk driving on December 31. On January 1, action was taken against 72 people. But doctors are worried about how many more drivers this method has been used and how serious the consequences could be.
Doctors are calling it a serious issue. Most people who are infected now have no symptoms. It is unthinkable what would happen if the same pipe was used in someone else’s case by examining the breath of a person with a breathalyzer, the doctors said.
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