Telangana slashes prices of COVID-19 tests, RT-PCR test at Rs 500
The rates have been reduced to Rs. 500 and Rs. 750, respectively. The revised prices include all charges such as personal protective equipment (PPE) and others.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 22 Dec 2020 1:47 PM GMT
Hyderabad: The Telangana government, on 22 December, slashed the prices of COVID-19 RT-PCR tests in private labs.
Earlier, private labs were charging Rs. 850 to collect samples and Rs. 1,200 if samples were collected from a person's home. Now, the rates have been reduced to Rs. 500 and Rs. 750, respectively. The revised prices include all charges such as personal protective equipment (PPE) and others.
The state government said the director of public health and family welfare has stated that in view of increased availability of test kits and reduction in the cost of both RNA extraction kits and RT-PCR kits, the cost of testing has decreased and requested the state to revise the rates for COVID-19 tests.
In an order issued on Tuesday, the principal secretary of the state health department, Syed Ali Murtaza Rizvi, directed all hospitals, institutions, and labs to display the revised tariff prominently and strictly comply with the orders. The government has said that non-compliance will attract action as per the provisions of law. All district health and medical officers have also been directed to closely monitor and enforce the new prices.
Telangana reported 617 new COVID-19 cases on Monday taking the overall tally to 2,82,347 in the state. Three new deaths were reported on Monday taking the total tally to 1,518. The fatality rate in the state stands at 0.53 per cent which is less than the national average of 1.5 per cent.
The districts of Telangana are seeing an increase in the number of cases. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) area reported 103 new cases while Rangareddy reported 51 new cases. Medchal Malkajigiri reported 52 new cases while Karimnagar and Warangal Urban both reported 41 new cases each.
Around 635 people recovered from the virus on Monday taking the number of total recoveries to 2,74,260. The recovery rate in the state now stands at 97.13 per cent, which is approximately two per cent higher than the national average of 95.6 per cent.
