A doctor wearing a protective suit stores a swab in a test tube after taking it from a man to test for coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at a residential area in Mumbai, Maharashtra onApril 8, 2020.
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Reuters
Issue necessary directions immediately, it tells govt
Tests relating to COVID-19, whether done in approved government or private laboratories, shall be free of cost, the Supreme Court ordered on Wednesday.
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Issue the necessary directions immediately, it told the government.
A Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and S. Ravindra Bhat held that tests relating to COVID-19 must be carried out only in NABL accredited Labs or any agencies approved by the WHO or the ICMR.
The order was passed on a petition filed by advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi to implement free COVID-19 testing by private labs. On April 3, the court issued notice to the government on the plea, which challenged the legality of a March 17 advisory capping the price for Coronavirus testing at Rs. 4500 in private labs and hospitals.