Covid fear strains hospitals’ test capacity

Private labs charge high fees as demand rises

LAHORE:

While Punjab government is struggling to curb the fifth wave of coronavirus, private hospitals and laboratories have reportedly increased the fee for tests for the Omicron variant of the disease.

Government hospitals are conducting the test free of charge but are reportedly unable to test all the suspected patients of coronavirus because of their high number.

Several patients complained on Monday that they were being advised to get themselves tested outside the government hospitals at the high price. They said the capacity of the labs in government hospitals should be enhanced.

In a new phase of the provincial government's battle against coronavirus, the number of patients suffering from its Omicron variant in hospitals has reached the highest level recorded so far.

As many as 2,108 new patients of coronavirus were confirmed in Punjab during the past 24 hours.

An official of Punjab heath department said the number was the highest for a day during the past seven months.

Punjab government has already introduced a number of restrictions in the province to protect the citizens, including classes on alternate days for young school students in the district having high incidence of coronavirus.

With the number of suspected patients of the pandemic increasing with every passing day, the major challenge for them and their families is problems in getting themselves tested for the virus. A number of private laboratories and hospitals are reportedly earning huge profit by charging thousands of rupees for the tests.

Before the ongoing wave of the pandemic, the private labs normally charged up to Rs4,000 for coronavirus tests. However, after the start of Omicron,  the labs are charging Rs5,000 to Rs6,000 for the test, with the rate reaching Rs8,000 in some cases.

Upscale private hospitals are also charging a high fee for the tests of coronavirus patients.

"Although the Punjab health department claims that the facility of free coronavirus tests is available in government hospitals, it is estimated that a majority of the patients suspected to have symptoms of the virus are unable to avail the service," said a senior official of the primary and secondary healthcare department.

He said the government had earlier given permission of coronavirus tests at private labs and hospitals at a low cost but now the patients were being forced to pay a higher amount. The official said the department had not taken any action so far to improve the access to the diagnostic facilities for the citizens in the government and private laboratories.

"The number of patients has increased and the situation in government hospitals regarding the test facilities has worsened but the higher authorities have not taken notice of the fee charged by the private labs and hospitals," the official said.

The provincial health department's spokesperson Sayed Hamad Raza said the Punjab government would take action if complaints of heavy fees of coronavirus tests were received from patients, while the government was providing the facility free of charge in all its hospitals.

He said any citizen could easily undergo the tests in government hospitals and the authorities were striving hard to provide the best facilities in this regard. Meanwhile, coronavirus claimed three lives in Lahore and one in Rawalpindi during the past 24 hours.

Of the over 2,100 coronavirus cases confirmed during the period, 1,320 were recorded in Lahore and 444 in Rawalpindi.

Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare Secretary Imran Sikandar Baloch said the latest positive diagnostic test result rate of

9.6 per cent was also the highest in several months.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 25^th, 2022.