Private labs put on hold home collection of samples after government slashes testing cost

After the Haryana government brought down the cost of the Reverse transcription-polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) — the frontline test to detect the SARS-CoV-2

After the Haryana government brought down the cost of the Reverse transcription-polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) — the frontline test to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus causing Covid-19 disease — testing numbers in the city’s private labs have sharply declined to less than 1,000 per day. According to private diagnostic centres in the city, the reason for this decline is attributed to the fact that they have either limited home collection of samples or put it on hold because the new testing cost of ₹1,200 does not cover the entire cost incurred by them in administering the test. From October 1-7, private labs conducted only 45.2% of the 15,139 RT-PCR tests in the district.

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From September 16 onwards, when walk-in tests were allowed, private labs had seen a sudden surge in the number of tests and were conducting more than 53% of the total tests. This amounted to almost 1,200-1,400 RT-PCR tests per day.

However, on October 2, the state health department issued an order, further slashing the charges of RT-PCR tests from ₹1,600 to ₹1,200. Private labs and hospitals based in Gurugram raised the issue with the district health department, stating that the revised cost did not cover the entire cost of sample collection.

Data available with the health department shows that from October 3 onwards — a day after the notification — testing in the private lab came down to 865, as compared to 1,075 tests on October 2 and 1,028 on October 1. At least 879 tests were administered on October 4, 996 on October 5 and 1,047 on October 6. Numbers further dropped to 953 tests on October 7. The health department did not share the figures for Thursday.

Dr Rishabh Rajput, director of Covid-19 and microbiology division, Modern Diagnostics, said, “With the revised rate, home collection is slightly difficult due to which labs are now asking people to directly come to the lab for giving samples.”

Dr Santosh Kumar, microbiologist, MolQ laboratory, another lab that conducts Covid-19 tests, added, “Many labs are disappointed with the new testing cost, due to which they have stopped sample collection from homes. A technician can take only 15-20 samples when visiting homes but the same technician can collect over 60 tests if stationed at the lab,” said

According to him, since they are a research and a diagnostic lab they have developed their own RNA extraction kits and Viral Transport Medium (VTM) kits. “Because, we use our own products, we are not facing huge losses and are doing the home collection. But for the smaller labs, the revised rate is difficult to sustain; therefore, they have either stopped home collection or have limited it,” said Kumar.

As per the data, the testing rate in the government lab based in Civil Hospital, Sector 10 has increased compared to private labs. During the time period when private labs were conducting over 1,400 tests a day, testing in government set-up decreased below a 1,000 a day as they imposed charges on testing for non-medical reasons. However, for the last one week, on an average 1,185 RT-PCR tests are being administered in the public set up. On October 1, they did a maximum of 1,300 tests. Their numbers are fluctuating between 1,100-1,300 tests. Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer, said, “On-demand tests of symptomatic patients are being carried out at the sample collection centres. Also, a large number of samples are being collected through survey and contact tracing.”

Till now, 2,83,927 tests have been administered in the city, of which 22,761 were tested positive for Covid-19. 20,180 have recovered and 181 have died due to illness. On Thursday, 264 new cases were confirmed.