NEW DELHI: The Delhi government on Thursday capped the cost of conventional RT-PCR tests for COVID-19 detection in private hospitals and labs at Rs 300, a 40 per cent reduction from the earlier rate, according to an order.
The earlier cost of an RT-PCR test was Rs 500.
The rapid antigen test (RAT) at private facilities will cost Rs 100.
Earlier, a RAT used to cost Rs 300.
According to the order, home collection of samples and testing would cost Rs 500 against the earlier Rs 700.
At government centres and hospitals, RT-PCR and rapid antigen tests are conducted for free of cost.
The order also said that the cost of conventional RT-PCR tests for which samples are collected by government teams and then collected by private sector labs as requisitions by districts or hospitals will be Rs 200.
The cost of the RT-PCR tests for which samples are collected by private labs for the government will be Rs 300.
In November 2020, the government had capped the rate of RT-PCR tests in private hospitals and labs at Rs 800 and in August, last year it was further reduced to Rs 500.
The health department has directed all private hospitals and laboratories to display the revised rates at a prominent place within 24 hours.
It has also asked private facilities to process samples within 12 hours of being received in labs.
The department said for positive samples, results should be updated on the ICMR portal within 30 minutes of the samples being processed.
Details of all negative samples should be on the portal within 24 hours from receipt of samples in the lab, it said.
On Thursday, Delhi reported 12,306 fresh COVID-19 cases and 43 more fatalities due to the viral disease, while the positivity rate dipped to 21.48 per cent.
Delhi had logged 35 deaths and 13,785 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday with a positivity rate of 23.86 per cent.
The city had recorded 28,867 COVID-19 cases last Thursday, the sharpest single-day spike since the beginning of the pandemic.
The number then declined to 24,383 on Friday, 20,718 on Saturday, 18,286 on Sunday, 12,527 on Monday, and 11,684 on Tuesday.
The positivity rate stood at 30.6 per cent on Saturday, the highest in the ongoing wave of the pandemic so far, 27.9 per cent on Sunday, 28 per cent on Monday and 22.5 per cent on Tuesday.
The national capital has reported a total of 17,60,272 COVID-19 cases so far.
A total of 1,66,039 patients have recuperated, while the death toll due to the disease stands at 25,503.
Delhi on Thursday reported 12,306 fresh COVID-19 cases and 43 more fatalities due to the viral disease, while the positivity rate dipped to 21.48 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department.
This is the highest number of deaths reported in a day since June 10, 2021, when 44 fatalities were recorded.
As many as 396 people have succumbed to COVID-19 in the national capital so far in January.
According to officials, a total of 57,290 COVID-19 tests were conducted on Wednesday, as against 57,776 a day ago, the data showed.
Delhi had logged 35 deaths and 13,785 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday with a positivity rate of 23.86 per cent.
The city had recorded 28,867 COVID-19 cases last Thursday, the sharpest single-day spike since the beginning of the pandemic.
The number then declined to 24,383 on Friday, 20,718 on Saturday, 18,286 on Sunday, 12,527 on Monday, and 11,684 on Tuesday.
The positivity rate stood at 30.6 per cent on Saturday, the highest in the ongoing wave of the pandemic so far, 27.9 per cent on Sunday, 28 per cent on Monday and 22.5 per cent on Tuesday.
There are 15,589 beds for Covid patients in Delhi hospitals and 2,698 (17.31 per cent) of them are occupied.
A total of 2,539 Covid patients are in hospitals and 152 of them are on ventilator support, the health department bulletin stated.
Of the 68,730 active Covid cases in Delhi, 53,593 are recovering in home isolation, it said.
Earlier in the day, Health Minister Satyendar Jain said it seems that Delhi has passed the peak of the third wave of COVID-19 but cautioned that the city is not out of the danger zone yet.
The minister said Delhi recently saw a record surge of over 28,000 daily cases and the positivity rate too had gone beyond 30 per cent.
"That spike which Delhi saw can be considered the peak of the Covid wave and it seems that we are past the peak now. The number of daily cases has come down in the last few days. Over 13,000 cases were recorded yesterday with a positivity rate close to 24 per cent. And today, the number of cases is lesser than that," he said.
On Wednesday, Jain had said the positivity rate in the national capital is not low enough to lift the restrictions imposed to contain the spread of viral disease and that the government will monitor the situation for three to four days.
Since last week, the minister has been saying that hospital admissions have stabilised in the national capital and the third wave has plateaued.
Jain has also said that no one is being denied a Covid test and authorities are following the guidelines issued by the Centre.
"They (Centre) said high-risk contacts of Covid patients and those with symptoms should be tested. On Tuesday, they clarified that tests be conducted in some pockets in the community too, which we are doing," he said.
Delhi had been conducting 50,000 to 60,000 coronavirus tests daily for the last six months, he added.
The Delhi government on Thursday capped the rate of conventional RT-PCR tests in private hospitals and laboratories at Rs 300, reducing the price by 40 per cent, according to an order.
Earlier, the test used to cost Rs 500.
Rapid antigen tests at private facilities will cost Rs 100, the order stated.
Earlier, it used to cost Rs 300.