COVID-19: Supreme Court Tells Govt Testing Should Be Free In Private Laboratoriess

The Supreme Court (SC) says testing facility for COVID-19 should be made available free of cost to all citizens.

A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and S Ravindra Bhat asked the government to explore the feasibility of a mechanism by which private labs can be reimbursed for coronavirus tests so that citizens don’t have to pay for it.

“Don’t allow private labs to charge a high amount for tests. Create a mechanism for reimbursement (of private labs) from the government”, Justice Bhushan suggested.

As of now, private laboratories can charge a maximum amount of Rs 4500 to test patients with coronavirus symptoms.

The Solicitor General, representing the central government, told the court that he will convey the Court’s instructions.

Besides the authorised government hospitals across the country, a number of private laboratories have been granted the green signal to conduct tests for COVID-19 in several states.