The Ministry of Home Affairs said on Wednesday, 17 June, that testing for COVID-19 in private labs will be cut down by almost half in Delhi, from Rs 4,500 to Rs 2,400.
The Ministry tweeted, “As per the directives of Home Minister Amit Shah in providing relief to the common man, the high-level expert committee’s report on COVID19 testing rates received by Health Ministry has been further sent to Delhi Government for necessary action. It has been decided to fix the test rate at Rs 2,400.”
It was also announced that in order to increase testing and fasten the delivery of results in Delhi, tests will now be done with the rapid antigen methodology approved by the Indian Centre for Medical Research (ICMR), and the city would be given priority for these kits. 169 centres have also been set up across Delhi.
The testing has also been ramped up in the city since 14 June, and reports of 6,510 tests have been received already, out of 16,618 samples collected on 15 and 16 June.
Before this, Delhi had been following the Rs 4,500 per test cap ordered by the ICMR. The test is available for free at government facilities across the country.
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