Free sampling at govt centres

Manav Mander

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 20

The Health Department has ramped up testing for Covid-19 in the district. Now, prescription is not required to get sampling done. Anyone having Covid symptoms can directly go to a laboratory or a hospital for testing.

Places where testing is done free of cost

• Civil Hospital and Meritorious School
• Urban Community Health Centre at Jawaddi
• UCHC at Subhash Nagar and UCHC at Giaspura
• Subdivisional hospitals of Khanna, Samrala, Jagraon and Raikot

Helpline

In case one faces any difficulty at government hospitals, he or she can contact at the following numbers.

• 7814765759
• 7814763850

Precautions

• Wear a mask
• Maintain social distance
• Regular handwashing or sanitisation
• Cover mouth and nose while coughing and sneezing

Symptoms

• Fever
• Cough
• Breathlessness
• Body aches
• Loss of taste and smell
• Fatigue
• Sore throat
• Running nose

The test will be done free of cost at 10 government hospitals between 8 am and 4 pm. In case a person faces any problem with regard to testing, he or she can lodge a complaint with the police.

The Covid test is also done at private hospitals and laboratories, including the DMCH, the CMCH, Deep Hospital, SPS Hospital, Mohan Dai Oswal Hospital, Tagore Hospital and Heart Care Centre, and Pancham Hospital, Metropolis Healthcare Ltd, Dr Mona Path Labs, American Institute of Pathology and Laboratory Sciences (P) Ltd, GJ Diagnostics, Bansal Endocrinology and Clinical Lab, Atulaya Healthcare Pvt Ltd, Oncuest Laboratory Ltd, SRL Lab, Thyrocare Lab, Modern Diagnostic, Core Diagnostics, Guru Nanak Lab and Dr Lal Path Lab.

For the private labs and hospitals, the cost of Covid test has been capped at Rs 2,400 for RT-PCR which also includes charges for collection of sample from home. The cost of antigen testing has been capped at Rs 1,000 (inclusive of home-collection charges).

Dr Rajesh Kumar Bagga, Civil Surgeon of Ludhiana, said: “No prescription is required and anyone can get himself tested. Increased testing is vital for early detection of Covid cases which, in turn, is helpful in controlling the spread of the virus.”

People generally go for sampling only when they come in contact with a positive person or have symptoms, and moreover private facilities charge a hefty amount for a single sampling. However, people should understand that they should volunteer for sampling, irrespective of their symptoms or contact history. Also, the sampling facility by the Health Department is completely free of cost, he added.