Thiruvananthapuram, April 30: The Kerala government on Friday slashed the price of RT-PCR tests to Rs 500 from Rs 1,700 at all private laboratories in the state, according to a government notification.

It was in January that the Kerala government came out with an order that the rate of a RT-PCR test should be Rs 1,500 and following the private laboratories approaching the Kerala High Court the rate was fixed at Rs 1,700. COVID-19 Revised Guidelines: Union Health Ministry Issues Revised Protocols for Home Isolation of Mild and Asymptomatic Coronavirus Patients.

As many as 38,607 people tested positive for Covid on Thursday while the number of active cases touched 2,84,086.

The RT-PCR test is considered as the gold standard for the diagnosis of Covid as directed by the ICMR. In Kerala with the price of testing very high when compared to states like Odisha charging just Rs 400 and Haryana, Telangana and Uttarakhand charging Rs 500, on Friday Kerala Health Secretary Rajan Khobaragade came out with an order fixing the rate at Rs 500.

Presently private laboratories whose personnel collect samples from the residences for RT-PCR testing charge an additional Rs 1,000 as service charge over and above Rs 1,700.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 30, 2021 04:36 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).