Extending support to the people during the coronavirus pandemic, the government of the southern Indian state Tamil Nadu on Monday announced free COVID-19 testing for all patients.
The health secretary of the state Dr Beela Rajesh has announced that Tamil Nadu will fix the cost for the test and reimburse private labs and hospitals for treating the patients free of charge.
Beela Rajesh also mentioned that there are enough testing kits in the state (24,000), and that it would be receiving more in the coming weeks.
In a parallel development, the Supreme Court of India has agreed to modify its 8 April order in which it directed the Indian government to allow free COVID-19 tests in private labs as the test is already free in government facilities.
The top court agreed to review its decision in view of the affidavit filed by India’s apex medical research body the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) which stated that free testing at private labs "would work to the detriment of the country".
Currently, INR 4,500 ($60) per test is the price cap set by ICMR. The research lab had mentioned that 139 government labs in the country are enabled for testing and are completely free of cost for all citizens.
In addition, the government has roped in over 60 private labs in the different parts of the country to increase the rate of testing.
The total number of COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu stand at 1,075, while 11 people have lost lives in the state due to the infection. India has registered over 9,000 cases, with more than 300 deaths from the virus.
