India is been constantly targeted for not conducting enough COVID-19 tests amidst the crisis. Brushing that aside the government on Saturday decided to allow private labs to conduct the tests.
To make sure that the labs don’t resort to profiteering charging wishful rates the prices of the test are also capped. The cap for COVID-19 is but at Rs 4,500. The private laboratories which have NABL accreditation for real-time PCR SA for RNA virus will be allowed to conduct COVID-19 tests. The guidelines in this regards were issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) late on Saturday.
As per the guidelines, Rs 1,500 would be charged for a screening test. For suspect cases and an additional Rs 3,000 for the confirmation test. ‘Preferable home collection’ of samples is recommended by the guidelines in order to avoid public gathering.
Testing kits which are US FDA approved or European CE certified or both for in vitro diagnosis of COVID-19 under emergency use would be used. So, far private labs in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka have been notified.
Also Read: Delhi & NCR Under Lockdown Till 31 March, All Passenger Trains Cancelled
With the cases of COVID-19 crossing 400 in India 75 districts of the country are under lockdown. As per the latest inputs, Indi has reported 8 deaths.
