The Supreme Court had recently ordered the Union government and private healthcare facilities to provide COVID-19 testing for free.
To ensure free testing for all patients, Tamil Nadu Health Secretary Dr Beela Rajesh, on Sunday, announced that the state government will reimburse the COVID-19 testing costs incurred by private hospitals and laboratories.
According to a report, Beela Rajesh said that the government will fix the cost of testing patients for SARS-CoV-2 and will reimburse the same to government and private labs and hospitals. They will, in turn, have to test people for free.
Recently, the Supreme Court had passed an interim order, directing the Union government to provide free testing for COVID-19 in all the hospitals and labs that conduct tests for the virus. The apex court had also stated that private healthcare centres like hospitals and labs have to extend their philanthropic services in times of a pandemic. The court had also observed that the existing price cap of Rs 4,500, set by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), is not affordable to everybody and that people cannot be deprived of testing because they cannot shell out the amount.
Assuring that the state has an adequate number of testing kits, Beela Rajesh said that the delay in the arrival of rapid antibody testing kits will not be a problem. She also pointed out that the state currently has around 24,000 RNA (ribonucleic acid) test kits and will also be receiving more such kits in the coming week. Tamil Nadu has placed orders for around four lakh test kits with China and is yet to receive the consignment, according to Chief Secretary K Shanmugam.
The state government has tested 10,655 samples till Sunday and has recorded 1,075 positive cases of COVID-19. The state health department also has put over 93,000 persons in home quarantine and has screened over two lakh passengers at various airports in the state.
Source: The News Minute