Govt. reduces COVID-19 sample test fee: Maleque

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DHAKA, August 19, 2020 (BSS) – Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque today said the government has taken decision to reduce COVID-19 sample test fee for the convenience of common people in the country.

“At the directive of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, we have re-fixed Taka 100 instead of Taka 200 and Taka 300 instead of Taka 500 for COVID-19 sample tests at government-run testing facilities,” he told at a press briefing in the conference room of the ministry, an official release said.

Maleque said earlier the government has fixed Taka 200 as sample collection fee at the designated government hospitals and healthcare centers while it fixed Taka 500 for sample collection from home.

The government has decreased the sample collection fee to make testing facilities available for all levels of people to contain the pandemic, he added.

Maleque said the government has introduced telemedicine services to provide treatment facilities to the COVID-19 patients and recovery rate from the deadly disease is gradually increasing due to multiple healthcare measures taken by relevant organizations of the health ministry.

He said many countries including the UK and China are in the final stage for developing COVID-19 vaccine. “The government is constantly overseeing global development on COVID-19 vaccine… it is keeping connections with those countries, who are performing phase-3 human trial on invention of inoculation,” the minister said.

He also said Bangladesh would be able to collect the coronavirus vaccine within the shortest possible time from the countries, which are frontrunners in vaccine development.