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Two pvt hospitals get ICMR nod to conduct Covid-19 tests in GB Nagar
Noida:
Noida:
Amid the rising Covid-19 cases in Gautam Budh Nagar, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has given permission to two private hospitals -- Sharda Hospital in Greater Noida and Jaypee Hospital in Noida -- to conduct Covid-19 tests.
It will provide some relief to the health department as the district has been facing a lot of troubles in getting sample reports of Covid-19 cases. Currently, the district has only two full-fledged Covid-19 labs -- one at the Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) and the other at National Institute of Biologicals (NIB).
While the lab at Sharda Hospital is ready to function from Thursday, Jaypee Hospital will take another 12 days to set up its lab, authorities from the two hospitals said.
“We have got the orders to start conducting Covid-19 tests and we have placed our requirement of personal protection equipment (PPE) kits. It is going to take a few days to start the lab. We will be able to test up to 30 samples per day,” said Dr Suryasnata Das, associate director, department of lab medicine and microbiology, Jaypee Hospital.
Both the hospitals were opted by the district health department to function as Covid-19 centres also.
“Our lab is ready to start conducting Covid-19 tests. We are in the process of finalizing the price of the test. The price will be fixed as per the orders of the state government,” said Dr Ajit Kumar, joint registrar and media spokesperson, Sharda University, Greater Noida.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has said that the Covid-19 tests will be conducted for Rs 2,500 in the state, but some diagnostic centres, which are collecting home samples of Covid-19 suspects, are still charging Rs 4,500 for the test.
“We have stopped doing Covid-19 tests as the costing is much more than Rs 2,500. We are only doing home collection of Covid-19 suspects,” said a receptionist of a private diagnostic centre in Noida.
When asked about the issue, Dr Deepak Ohri, Gautam Budh Nagar chief medical officer (CMO), said he will ensure that no testing centres charge more than Rs 2,500 in the district. “I will look into the matter. Required action will be taken against those who are not charging as per the directions of the state government,” said Ohri.
Recently, four patients from the Sharda Hospital got themselves shifted to a private hospital in Delhi after their reports to confirm them negative got delayed for days. The hospital staff have also been facing troubles in handling Covid-19 patients and suspects as they start panicking when their reports are delayed.
