Haryana govt reduces cost of RT-PCR test to Rs 499

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The Haryana government on Tuesday reduced the price of the RT-PCR and Rapid Antigen tests conducted by private labs from Rs 700 to Rs 499, while the charge for home collection has been capped from Rs 900 to Rs 699, with immediate effect. An order in this regard was issued by Rajeev Arora, Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, Haryana.

This is the sixth time the Haryana government has reduced the price for COVID-19 testing through the Reverse Transcription- Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) at private laboratories.

Civil Surgeon Virender Yadav has issued an order to all the private hospitals and laboratories in Gurugram district, warning that any violation by them would come under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code.

According to health officials, the rate has been fixed after due consideration by experts.

"The test should be done in case of suspicion of coronavirus infection and the most reliable test among all tests is considered to be the RT-PCR test. Now the government has revised its maximum rate and no hospital or lab operator can charge more than that," Yadav said.

"This cost is applicable only for state residents and will encourage more people to come forward for more tests," he added.

Referring to other types of Covid-19 tests, Yadav said there are four other tests related to this pandemic whose rates are determined by the government. The rate of CBNAAT is Rs 2,400, TrueNat is Rs 1,250, Rapid Antigen test is Rs 500 and Antibody test is Rs 250.

In Gurugram, the number of active cases is 458 and 350 people have died in the district due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

(With IANS Inputs)