BMC Stops Home Collection Of Covid-19 Test Samples By Private Laboratories
Collection of samples from citizens’ homes is no longer permitted.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has barred private laboratories from offering home tests for Covid-19. Collection of samples from citizens’ homes is no longer permitted, BMC officials confirmed to BloombergQuint.
Earlier, BMC had started a helpline that residents of city experiencing virus symptoms could call to get their samples collected from home to be tested by private laboratories.
The process began to be abused, prompting a halt, confirmed one official who did not want to be identified. People who did not have any symptoms started calling for these tests out of fear. This was also against the guidelines of Indian Council of Medical Research that say only symptomatic payients should be tested. This created a backlog of pending tests, the official added.
“We are testing the right ones where the tests are needed the most, said Dr. Daksha Shah, deputy director in the health department of the BMC. “We are following the guidelines of government of India and avoid unnecessary tests. Our teams collect samples from fever clinics in slum areas where it is needed the most”.
At present, there are nine ICMR-approved private laboratories that are running Covid-19 tests in Mumbai, charging Rs 4,500 per test.
As on May 1, BMC data show 7,625 people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the city.