Healthcare

ICMR proposes cap on private test for coronavirus at Rs 5,000

Updated : March 20, 2020 06:42 PM IST

Government, last week, had started discussions with private labs, in an attempt to expand testing facilities.

While ICMR had advised all private labs to conduct free of cost testing, only some of them agreed on the proposal.

As of 5 pm of March 20, there are 206 active cases of coronavirus have been reported in the country.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has proposed a cap of Rs 5,000 for private tests of coronavirus, senior government officials said.

Government, last week, had started discussions with private labs, in an attempt to expand testing facilities. However, while ICMR had advised all private labs to conduct free of cost testing, only some of them agreed on the proposal.

According to the government, availability of testing equipment, mainly probes (as they are imported), is a criteria for any NABL-accredited private lab to come on board and start testing coronavirus.

Till last week, ICMR had utilised its own funds, to the tune of over Rs 20 crore, to conduct tests for coronavirus and had not received the sanctioned amount of Rs 20 crore from the government till last week, according to the officials.

As of 5 pm of March 20, there are 206 active cases of coronavirus have been reported in the country and social distancing has been considered the biggest and most important directive to prevent the disease transmission.

More than 1 lakh people are currently under community surveillance and nearly 6,700 people are also under surveillance as they were in contact with positive cases of coronavirus in the country.

In light of frequent cases of citizens flouting norms, states are authorised to impose a penalty of Rs 1,000 or imprisonment of six months or both on the concerned citizens, according to senior government officials.

There is no evidence of community transmission of coronavirus in India, officials said, adding that the travel history of a positive coronavirus patient in Tamil Nadu is yet to be ascertained and the Source of the virus is not yet clear in that case.

ICMR proposes cap on private test for coronavirus at Rs 5,000

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