The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday cut the price of the RT-PCR test to detect coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in private laboratories to 700 rupees and said it will cost 900 rupees if performed at home, a day after the governments of Delhi and Gujarat also revised the testing fees. In September, the Uttar Pradesh government had revised the rates of Covid-19 tests conducted by private laboratories from 2,500 to 1,600 rupees.
According to the government, if a patient gives a sample in the laboratory or the sample is collected by a hospital and sent to the laboratory, the fee for the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test will be Rs 700. And in case of For the laboratory to obtain its sample collected by its staff, the fee will be Rs 900. These fees include Goods and Services Tax (GST). Government hospitals are providing these tests at no cost, including RT-PCR and antigen tests.
Read also | Delhi Lowers Limit, RT-PCR Testing For Rs 800 In Private Labs
The RT-PCR test had a starting price of Rs 4,500 and the fees were gradually reduced to Rs 2,500 and on September 10, the government decided that the fee for private laboratories will be Rs 1,600.
RT-PCR tests are accurate but have so far continued to be expensive and with higher response times than rapid antigen tests. On the other hand, rapid antigen tests are often inaccurate when it comes to so-called false negatives or give negative results to people who may be positive for Covid-19.
Uttar Pradesh’s number of Covid-19 cases reached 545,545 on Tuesday after 1,703 new cases were reported across the state and 29 more deaths brought the figure to 7,788. The number of active cases of the coronavirus disease in the state stands at 23,670, while 5.14,087 people have recovered so far, according to a government bulletin.
Read also | Gujarat government cuts price of RT-PCR test to Rs 800
Of the new cases, 240 have been reported in Lucknow, followed by 156 in Meerut, 127 in Ghaziabad, 113 in Agra and 112 in Gautam Budh Nagar, according to a health department bulletin. Lucknow recorded seven deaths, Meerut and Etawah three each, and Varanasi and Balrampur two each, he said.
More than 143,000 tests were conducted in the state on Monday, bringing the total number of tests performed to more than 19.4 million.
The Gujarat government has reduced the price of RT-PCR tests performed by private laboratories for Covid-19 to Rs 800 from Rs 1,500. In Delhi, the RT-PCR test will now cost Rs 800 in all private labs, down from Rs 2,400.
(With contributions from the agency)
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