With more than 19,000 deaths and over 4 lakh infected, and numbers rising by the hour, the world is racing to develop a cure for the deadly coronavirus, along with providing affordable testing kits for the populace.
Amid this, a social media post is going viral with the claim that while in other countries, the coronavirus test is conducted for free or at nominal charges, in India, it is pretty expensive.
Facebook user Rohit Rai Jain wrote a post in Hindi which translates to, "China, US, Europe, Iran and Sri Lanka are conducting corona tests free of cost. In Bangladesh, it costs Rs 300, while in Pakistan, it is Rs 450. But in India, it costs Rs 4,500. Bajao thali."
Till the filing of this article, the post was shared more than 40,000 times. The archived version can be seen here.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found the claim to be misleading. In India, a coronavirus test in government-run laboratories and hospitals is free. It is only chargeable in private hospitals. The claim made over other countries is also misleading.
Let’s take a look at the charges for a Covid-19 test in the countries mentioned in the viral post.
China
In China, where the coronavirus was first reported, tests are not done for free. According to an article by South China Morning Post, a coronavirus test here costs about 370 yuan, which is close to Rs 4,000.
US & Europe
Both US and Europe are facing a shortage of Covid-19 testing kits. It has been reported by The New York Times that shortage of testing kits in UK government hospitals has lured "private labs, clinics and opportunistic go-betweens" to snap up diagnostic kits, often selling them at steep markups.
In US, coronavirus test charges depend on the nature of one's insurance policy. But as per latest reports, the US Medicare has released prices of Covid-19 tests, which is $35.92 (Rs 2,729) for tests developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and $51.33 (Rs 3,900) for all other commercial tests.
"These are the prices that labs bill Medicare. Most health insurers have waived copays for coronavirus tests, meaning one won't have to pay anything upfront," the report says.
Sri Lanka
As per news reports, the Sri Lankan government has allowed private hospitals to conduct Covid-19 tests for a maximum cost of Rs 6,000.
Bangladesh
The Bangladesh government has approved production of a locally developed low-cost coronavirus testing kit, which would cost less than Rs 300.
Pakistan
The Pakistan government has announced that coronavirus tests in government-run laboratories and hospitals are free. There are eight government laboratories and 25 hospitals all across the country. The tests are chargeable in Pakistan’s private hospitals and laboratories.
India
Coronavirus tests are done for free at government hospital laboratories. But they conduct tests only in risk cases, such as if there is a travel history or the person is close to a known patient.
Recently, the government has allowed NABL-accreditated private laboratories to conduct the tests to cope up with the pressure. But these private labs should not charge more than Rs 4,500.
The good news is that Pune-based Mylab has recently got commercial approval by the Indian FDA/Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) for an affordable coronavirus testing kit. These kits are expected to be priced approximately at Rs 1,200 and will hit the stores in a couple of days.
Hence, the viral comparison between prices of coronavirus tests in India and other countries is misleading.
JHOOTH BOLE KAUVA KAATE
The number of crows determines the intensity of the lie.
- 1 Crow: Half True
- 2 Crows: Mostly lies
- 3 Crows: Absolutely false
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