Supreme Court asks Centre to ensure free COVID-19 testing in private labs
New Delhi/IBNS: The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the central government to ensure free testing in private laboratories for the deadly Novel Coronavirus or COVID-19, media reports said.
Hearing a petition filed by advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi, the top court asked the Centre to explore feasibility of a mechanism where the private labs can be reimbursed.
"Don’t allow private labs to charge high amount for tests. Create mechanism for reimbursement (of private labs) from government," Justice Ashok Bhushan, who was hearing the case along with Justice S Ravindra Bhat, said.
Considering the poor government health infrastructure may get overwhelmed due to the spike in positive cases , the Centre has roped in the private labs to conduct the tests.
The charge for tests at private labs was, however, capped at Rs. 4,500.
As per the government update, 5,194 people including 402 cured and 149 cured have been infected with COVID-19 across the states with Maharashtra recording the most (1018) followed by Tamil Nadu (690).
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