Mumbai: BMC allows COVID testing without Doctors prescription

Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal took the decision to allow testing without medical prescription in view of increase in the number of private laboratories and their capacity, it said in a release.

It will help people get treatment for coronavirus quicker, it added.

Earlier, a doctor's prescription was needed for a test.

"If the test comes out positive, a (hospital) bed will be allotted through ward-level 'War Rooms' of the municipal corporation," the BMC release said.

Patients in institutional isolation will not be released unless they test negative, it said.

For testing, private labs can charge the rates fixed by the government.

The Union government has given permission to conduct coronavirus tests to 17 private laboratories in the city.

Private labs can charge Rs 2,500 for a Covid-19 test. The rate is Rs 2,800 if the test is conducted at home.

As per the BMC, 3,63,120 tests have been conducted in the city so far.

Mumbai's Covid-19 case count stood at 86,132 as on Tuesday with 4,999 deaths, as per the BMC.

Mumbai added 806 new cases, the lowest singe-day figure in nearly two months, to its tally in the day.

Welcoming the move, guardian minister of Mumbai suburban district Aaditya Thackeray said it will make citizens feel safer.

Read Also: No doctor's prescription for COVID-19 test: BMC eases rule for high-risk contacts