Coronavirus testing procedure in India: Cost, sampling process, results, test labs

Coronavirus continues to pose a serious threat to people around the world and India is also put on high alert. As the nation is under a 21-day lockdown, Indians are ordered to stay indoors for two more weeks. Despite this, the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise in the country, which has breached 1,400 mark.

Several reports have noted that India is not testing enough, and some of the reasons behind it could be the lack of testing kits available to the people and the medical infrastructure. If you're unaware of how the coronavirus testing is carried out, what are the costs, how the samples are taken, where are the test labs and more.

Find out all the answers to these pressing questions here.

How much does coronavirus tests cost in India?

Government hospital labs are carrying out coronavirus tests for free in risk cases, which include those who have a travel history or the person is close to a Covid-19 positive patient. But the government has also allowed certain private labs to carry out coronavirus tests and charge not more than Rs 4,500. The cost of the tests will go down further to Rs 1,200 once the MyLab's test kits hit the market.

What is the sampling process for coronavirus?

While most of you might have already guessed, testing one's blood by taking the sample from the vein in the arm is how coronavirus tests are carried out, there are other ways too.

Swab test: A special swab is used to take a sample from your nose or throat

Nasal aspirate: A saline solution will be injected into your nose and, then a sample is taken with a light suction

Tracheal aspirate: A thin tube with a torch (bronchoscope) is put into your mouth to reach your lungs from where a sample is collected

Sputum test: Sputum is collected from the person in a special cup or a swab is used to take a sample from the nose.

How long does it take to get coronavirus tests back?

The idea is to get test results as soon as possible but the current methods require several hours to get the final result that is accurate. For instance, MyLab's PathoDetect COVID-19 Qualitative PCR kit can give the results in just 2.5 hours whereas the labs take about 7 hours. Once the MyLab test kits are available in the market, the testing process should be simplified.

Covid-19 test labs in India

Here's a complete list of ICMR approved labs authorized to carry out coronavirus tests.

Andaman & Nicobar Islands (1)

1. Regional Medical Research Centre, Port Blair

Andhra Pradesh (3)

1. Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences, Tirupati
2. Rangaraya Medical College, Kakinada
3. Sidhartha Medical College, Vijaywada

Assam (4)

1. Gauhati Medical College, Guwahati
2. Regional Medical Research Center, Dibrugarh
3. Jorhat Medical College, Jorhat
4. Silchar Medical College, Silchar

Bihar (2)

1. Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna
2. Darbhanga Medical College, Darbhanga

Chandigarh (2)

1. Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research
2. Govt. Medical College

Chattisgarh (2)

1. All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Raipur
2. Late Baliram Kashyap M Govt. Medical College, Jagdalpur

Delhi (6)

1. All India Institute Medical Sciences
2. Lady Hardinge Medical College
3. National Centre for Disease Control
4. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital
5. Institute of Liver & Biliary Sciences
6. Army Hospital Research & Referral

Gujarat (4)

1. BJ Medical College, Ahmedabad
2. MP Shah Govt Medical College, Jamnagar
3. Govt. Medical College, Surat
4. Govt. Medical College, Bhavnagar

Haryana (2)

1. Pt. B.D. Sharma Post Graduate Inst. of Med. Sciences, Rohtak, Haryana
2. BPS Govt. Medical College, Sonipat

Himachal Pradesh (2)

1. Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla
2. Dr. Rajendra Prasad Govt. Medical College, Tanda

Jammu & Kashmir (4)

1. Govt. Medical College, Jammu
2. Command Hospital (NC), Udhampur
3. Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar
4. Govt. Medical College, Srinagar

Jharkhand (1)

1. MGM Medical College & Hospital, Jamshedpur

Karnataka (7)

1. Hassan Inst. of Med. Sciences, Hassan
2. Mysore Medical College & Research Institute, Mysore
3. Shimoga Institute of Medical Sciences, Shimoga
4. Command Hospital (Air Force), Bengaluru
5. Bangalore Medical College & Research Institute, Bengaluru
6. National Institute of Virology, Bangalore Field Unit, Bengaluru
7. Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences, Gulbarga

Kerala (6)

1. National Institute of Virology Field Unit, Allapuzzha
2. Govt. Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram
3. Govt. Medical College, Kozhikode
4. Govt. Medical College, Thrissur
5. Rajiv Gandhi Center for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram
6. Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences, Thiruvananthapuram

Maharashtra (7)

1. National Institute of Virology, Pune
2. Seth GS Medical College & KEM Hospital, Mumbai
3. Kasturba Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Mumbai
4. National Institute of Virology Field Unit, Mumbai
5. Armed Forces Medical College, Pune
6. BJ Medical College, Pune
7. Indira Gandhi Govt. Medical College, Nagpur

Madhya Pradesh (4)

1. All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhopal
2. National Institute for Research on Tribal Health, Jabalpur
3. Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College, Indore
4. Govt. Medical College, Bhopal

Manipur (2)

1. Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Med. Sciences, Imphal
2. Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal

Meghalaya (1)

1. North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health & Medical Sciences, Shillong

Odisha (1)

1. Regional Medical Research Centre, Bhubaneshwar

Puducherry (1)

1. Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research

Punjab (2)

1. Govt. Medical College, Amritsar
2. Govt. Medical College, Patiala

Rajasthan (7)

1. Sawai Man Singh Medical College, Jaipur
2. Dr. Sampurnanand Medical College, Jodhpur
3. Jhalawar Medical College, Jhalawar
4. RNT Medical College, Udaipur
5. SP Medical College, Bikaner
6. All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur
7. JLN Medical College, Ajmer

Tamil Nadu (7)

1. King Institute of Preventive Medicine & Research, Chennai
2. Madras Medical College, Chennai
3. Govt. Theni Medical College, Theni
4. Tirunelveli Medical College, Tirunelveli
5. Govt. Medical College, Thiruvarur
6. Kumar Mangalam Govt. Medical College, Salem
7. Coimbatore Medical College, Coimbatore

Telangana (2)

1. Gandhi Medical College, Secunderabad
2. Osmania Medical College, Hyderabad

Tripura (1)

1. Government Medical College, Agartala

Uttar Pradesh (4)

1. King George Medical University, Lucknow
2. Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
3. Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh
4. Command Hospital, Lucknow

Uttarakhand (1)

1. Govt. Medical College, Haldwani

West Bengal (3)

1. National Institute of Cholera & Enteric Diseases, Kolkata
2. Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education & Research, Kolkata
3. Midnapore Medical College, Midnapore

Here's a state-wise list of soon to be operational government labs:

Andhra Pradesh (2)

1. Govt. Medical College, Ananthpur
2. Guntur Medical College, Guntur

Assam (1)

1. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College, Barpeta

Bihar (3)

1. Darbhanga Medical College, Darbhanga
2. Indira Gandhi Institute Medical Sciences, Patna
3. Patna Medical College, Patna

Delhi (2)

1. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital
2. Maulana Azad Medical College

Gujarat (1)

1. Govt. Medical College, Vadodra

Jharkhand (1)

1. Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, Ranchi

Kerala (4)

1. State Public Health Laboratory, Trivandrum
2. Interuniversity, Kottayam
3. Regional Cancer Centre, Thiruvanathapuram
4. Malabar Cancer Center, Thalassery

Maharashtra (1)

1. Grant Medical College & Sir JJ Hospital, Mumbai

Madhya Pradesh (1)

1. Bhopal Memorial Hospital & Research Centre, Bhopal

Odisha (1)

1. All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhubaneshwar

Rajasthan (1)

1. Govt. Medical College, Kota

Tamil Nadu (2)

1. Govt. Medical College, Trichy
2. Govt. Medical College, Villupuram

Telangana (3)

1. Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad
2. Sir Ronald Ross of Tropical & Communicable Diseases, Hyderabad
3. Institute of Preventive Medicine, Hyderabad

Uttar Pradesh (2)

1. Uttar Pradesh RIMS, Saifai
2. Regional Medical Research Centre, Gorakhpur

Uttarakhand (1)

1. All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh

West Bengal (1)

1. School of Tropical Medicine, Kolkata

Alternatively, Practo has also started taking online bookings of coronavirus tests. Once booked, officials will collect the samples from home and the results will be posted on the website for user's to access within 24-48 hours after the sample collection. The service is limited to Mumbai for now, but it will soon be available in other cities.