NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, APR 19
The Gujarat government on Monday slashed the charges of RT-PCR tests being conducted by private laboratories to Rs 900 from Rs 1,100, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said on Monday.
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If a laboratory assistant is called at home or at the hospital to collect samples through RT-PCR test, the charges will be Rs 900 with effect from Tuesday, he told reporters in Gandhinagar.
Patel, who handles the Health portfolio, said a if a person visits a laboratory to give his swab sample, he will now be charged Rs 700 instead of Rs 800.
“Till now, the state government alone conducted 40.99 lakh RT-PCR tests and over 1.19 crore antigen tests free of cost,” Patel said.
He said 11 state-run hospitals across Gujarat, including the civil hospital in Ahmedabad, will get the PSA oxygen generator plants soon to cope up with the rising demand for medical oxygen for COVID-19 patients.
Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) is a technology of generating enriched oxygen from the ambient air.
These plants inside hospital premises would generate oxygen which will be supplied to patients, he said.