Government issues order allowing COVID-19 testing on demand

Shift in policy necessitated in the context of current epidemiological trends in State

The government has eased COVID-19 testing norms for the public by issuing an order allowing citizens to walk in to registered private laboratories or private hospitals and get themselves tested for COVID-19 at their own cost.

While a prescription from a registered medical practitioner is preferred, it is not mandatory, says the GO.

Citizens can opt for RT-PCT, CB NAAT, TruNat, or a Rapid antigen assay as is available in the testing laboratories.

There are an estimated 198 private hospitals/laboratories in the State doing COVID-19 testing using various diagnostic modalities.

The shift in policy has been necessitated in the context of the current epidemiological trends in the State and because of the requests from citizens apprehensive of having contracted the disease, says the GO.

The Health Department, in a document brought out earlier, had also clarified that with the government spending ₹1.7 crore on a daily basis for testing, it would be looking to the private sector more for ramping up COVID-19 testing.

Early detection

Empowering and providing better access to citizens for testing will aid in the early detection and management of the disease and in keeping mortality down, it is hoped.

The rates that can be charged by private laboratories for various kinds of testing have already been fixed by the government. Accordingly, the rate for RT-PCR testing will be ₹2,750; Rapid antigen test will be ₹625, and TruNat Step 1 assay will be ₹1,500 (If Tru Nat Step 1 assay is positive, then Step 2 assay will also be performed at ₹1,500).

Those requesting testing will have to sign a prescribed informed consent and declaration form, to be handed over to the lab-in-charge. They will also have to provide a copy of any government-issued ID.

The labs /hospitals should provide pre-test counselling to the person requesting testing.

It is suggested in the GO that private labs/hospitals doing COVID-19 testing can opt for a walk-in kiosk (WISK) model, where a trained lab technician or nurse can perform the test after collecting the nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal swab. The GO directs that the first 20 swab collection procedures should be supervised.

The results will be disclosed to the persons who undergo the tests with proper post-test counselling, guidance, and reassurance. The lab-in-charge should report the patient details and results online real time to the government as per the current guidelines, and inform district health authorities too.

The lab-in-charge should direct those who test positive as follows:

Those who test positive and are asymptomatic and who do not belong to high-risk category can contact the Health Department’s DISHA helpline (1056) regarding their eligibility for room isolation at home or seek admission to COVID first-line treatment centres (FLTCs).

The asymptomatic positive persons who belong to the high-risk category and symptomatic Category A patients will be admitted to an FLTC. Symptomatic Category B and C patients will be admitted to a COVID-19 hospital.

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