Pvt labs allowed to begin covid-19 tests under icmr guidelines

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has notified its guidelines on private labs that can test for the novel coronavirus. According to the notification, private laboratories

accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) can provide COVID-19 tests if they have US FDA approved test kits. This is how it will work.

First, the test can only happen once a qualified doctor has prescribed the test following ICMR guidelines. You can read about who all can qualify for a test here. RULES FOR TESTING AND

COLLECTION Before testing can start, the labs must ensure real time reporting of test results to ICMR HQ database. Each lab will be provided a registration number by the ICMR. Importantly,

while the ICMR has encouraged labs to provide free or subsidised testing, the cost of tests cannot go beyond Rs 4500. This includes Rs 1500 for screening tests and Rs 3000 for confirmation

tests. In an earlier presser, ICMR head Dr Balram Bhargava had appealed to the private players. Following this, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) released a

list of over 30 private labs which have the ‘capacity’ to conduct COVID-19 tests with reagents as per the guidelines by ICMR. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)

guidelines for testing, laboratory tests for coronavirus at private labs should be offered when prescribed by a qualified physician. "Private labs testing is to ensure real time

reporting to Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) and the ICMR headquarters for timely initiation of contact tracing and research activities," ICMR Director General Balram

Bhargava had said. In a notification issued on 21 March, some guidelines were laid out as follows (among others): At present, the ICMR has equipped 72 of its laboratories to test for the

pandemic. In addition to these labs, 49 more under organisations like Council of Scientific & Industrial Research, Department of Biotechnology, and Defence Research, Development

Organisation would be equipped to test for coronavirus by end of this week, Bhargava said.