SHILLONG: With the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) withdrawing subsidy on testing kits, the Meghalaya government has announced that COVID-19 tests will be charged from next week, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said on Wednesday.
The samples for COVID-19 test will be examined on payment from October 16.
The deputy chief minister also said that plans are afoot to charge inmates at government Corona Care Centres for meals.
The state government has initiated the process for identifying hotels and guest houses where people who are currently in institutional quarantine can be lodged, if they are willing to undergo paid isolation.
"Testing, be it RT-PCR, CBNAAT, Truenat or Rapid Antigen Test (RAT), will be done on payment from October 16.
BPL families or beneficiaries under National Food Security Act (NFSA) and high risk contacts are totally exempted," the deputy chief minister told PTI.
The Rapid Antigen Test for COVID-19 will be mandatory for all persons, including visitors, for an amount of Rs 500.
Rs 3,200 has been set as the capping charge for Truenat, CBNAAT and RT-PCR testing, but people under the BPL category and those carrying cartificates of having undergone the tests in the last 72 hours will be exempted, he said.
"We have already created an online facility at www.coronameg.in for those people coming to the state so that they can register for testing before entering Meghalaya," he said.
"Deputy commissioners have been asked to work out on the cost of food items provided to each person per day at government Corona Care Centres. BPL families and those who can get meals from home will be exempted from paying," Tynsong said.