Govt urged to regulate test fee at private setups

Rawalpindi : In the middle of coronavirus illness outbreak that is adding miseries to the lives of thousands of people leaving a huge proportion of population unable to earn their bread and butter properly, the private diagnostic laboratories have been earning huge profits by conducting COVID-19 tests and according to many senior health experts, the concerned government authorities should take up the issue seriously in the best interest of public.

The residents in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi are among the worst hit population and the number of confirmed cases of the disease is continuously on the rise and so are the deaths yet only a little proportion of individuals in the region can afford coronavirus testing at private setups, said a top health official serving at Rawalpindi Medical University.

Pleading anonymity, he said the government cannot afford to test 100 per cent population but if it regulates fee for COVID-19 tests at private laboratories, a good number of people would be able to get their status that would certainly minimize panic and depression among public.

Another top official at the allied hospitals believes that COVID-19 is a historical pandemic like the one witnessed by the world in 2018 in the shape of Spanish Flu and it is a must for private setups to earn minimum for COVID-19 test for the sake of humanity.

The test for COVID-19 costs not over Rs3000 as in the beginning of March this year, a number of laboratories were conducting tests for the same amount but now a number of private setups are charging Rs7000 to Rs10000 for COVID-19 test, said an official serving at National Institute of Health Islamabad.

A businessman who imports medical equipment and testing kits informed ‘The News’ that a testing kit used to test COVID-19 costs from US 8 dollars to 11 dollars or slightly above that and if the private laboratories want to give relief to public, these can provide the test facility for Rs2000 to Rs3000 even after earning a gentle profit.

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 claimed another five lives in last 24 hours in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi taking death toll to 134 while another 313 patients have been confirmed positive taking tally to 5597 on Wednesday.

In last 24 hours, one confirmed patient of COVID-19 died here in Rawalpindi district while four in Islamabad Capital Territory.

As many as 295 more patients have been tested positive from the federal capital in last 24 hours taking total number of confirmed patients so far reported from ICT to 3188 of which 399 have so far recovered while 34 died of the disease.

Another death due to COVID-19 has taken the total number of deaths from Rawalpindi district to 100 while another 18 patients have been tested positive for the disease after which the number of confirmed patients of the illness from the district has reached 2409.

Of a total of 2409 confirmed patients from the district, as many as 1073 have been discharged after treatment while 436 confirmed patients have been undergoing treatment at the healthcare facilities including Corona Management Centre at Rawalpindi Institute of Urology, Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Pakistan Red Crescent Society Rawalpindi, a field hospital at Shahbaz Sharif Sports Complex and Holy Family Hospital, 1841, said Executive District Officer (Health) Rawalpindi Dr. Sohail Ahmed Chaudhary while talking to ‘The News’ on Wednesday.

He added another 800 confirmed patients of COVID-19 have been in home isolation in the district while some 2497 persons have been under home quarantine.