Covid test in pvt labs in Jharkhand to get cheaper

RANCHI: Following the recommendation of an expert committee of the Union government, the state government is contemplating to reduce the price of Covid-19 tests at private laboratories in Jharkhand. The governments of Maharashtra, New Delhi and Haryana have already capped the cost of the test.
Talking to TOI, state health secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni said: “We have received the recommendations of an expert committee of the Centre and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) with regard to fixing a mutually agreeable price for Covid-19 tests at private labs.We are talking to stakeholders and will soon announce the revised rate.”
At the moment, one has to shell out Rs 4,500 for a Covid-19 test at any of the four laboratory chains authorised to conduct the test in Jharkhand. Earlier, the private labs in Jharkhand had expressed their inability to conduct the tests below the maximum price set by the ICMR.
“During the lockdown, we had to send samples to either Gurgaon or Kolkata for testing, which increased the cost. We also had to procure viral transport media (VTMs) from foreign countries between March and May at an inflated price,” a franchise owner of a private testing lab said on the condition of anonymity. VTMs are kits in which swab samples are transported.
Asked if they can conduct the tests now at a lower rate, the franchise owner answered in the affirmative. He said as most equipment are being manufactured locally, there is a scope of reducing the price of the test.
ICMR in its letter dated March 17 had capped the maximum price for Covid test in a private lab at Rs 4,500. But on May 25, it again wrote to chief secretaries of all states and Union territories asking them to fix new rates, as the prices of testing kits have dropped over the last few months.
Meanwhile, the head of the state Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP) cell, Dr Praveen Karn, said: “Till now, around 9,000 people have got themselves tested in private labs. The numbers are expected to rise if the prices fall.”
Many Ranchiites criticised the delay in reducing the rate. “I wanted to get my grandparents tested as both are diabetic and have age-related ailments. If the cost of testing comes down, I will surely get them tested. If New Delhi, Maharashtra and other states can reduce the price, why is Jharkhand taking so long? Utkarsh Kumar, a resident of Ratu Road area, said.