Private labs can collect samples from home

Tribune News Service

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Chandigarh, August 10

The UT Adviser, Manoj Parida, on Monday announced that private laboratories had been permitted to collect samples of suspected patients from home.

Parida said, “Private laboratories have been allowed to collect RTPCR and antigen samples from home.”

There are three private laboratories – SRL Diagnostic Laboratory, Atulaya Healthcare and Metropolis Healthcare. SRL Diagnostics at Sector 11 has been conducting RT-PCR testing in Chandigarh and has also started antigen and antibody tests recently .

While, rapid antigen is nasopharyngeal swab test, antibody test is a blood test primarily used for sero-surveillance. The antigen test is priced at Rs1200 in SRL Laboratory.

Atulaya Healthcare is providing the Covid-19 testing in three different ways — RT PCR for Rs2,000 per test, antibody on chemiluminescence immunoassay for Rs999 per test and antigen on rapid card for Rs1,500 test.

Metropolis Healthcare will only collect samples from home as the laboratory has no kiosk set up in Chandigarh for sampling.

SRL and Atulaya will collect samples from home along with collection from sites.