By SK.Vyas
Jalandhar, August 17, 2020: The Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori on Monday said that the Punjab Government has capped the rates of Covid-19 testing through Rapid Antigen Testing Kits by private labs at Rs 1000.
Divulging the information, the Deputy Commissioner said that no private laboratory should charge the amount more than Rs 1000 for Covid-19 testing using the Rapid Antigen Testing Kits. He said that this amount includes any cost of involved in-home collection of samples, testing, documentation and reporting in the state.
Thori said that all the testing protocols as mandated by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Government of India and state government from time to time must be followed by all private labs.
He told that the private laboratories must share the data about the results of tests for Covid-19, with the state government and uploaded on ICMR portal on a real-time basis as well as informed to the patient immediately.
The Deputy Commissioner added that at the time of sampling, the identification, and address and verified mobile number and others of the person, who is being tested, must be recorded and uploaded on RT-PCR Test.
He told that private labs must maintain the information of the patient with utmost confidentially.
Further, Deputy Commissioner said that all private laboratories must display the rates of rapid antigen testing prominently.
He said that the use of these new rapid antigen testing kits would help to detect the positive cases soon as the results would be available within 30 minutes after its usage.