As of Monday this week, South Africans can walk into private laboratories for a coronavirus test without it being done via the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) and doctors, reports The Times. Lancet Laboratories’ clinical virologist Professor Eftyhia Vardas said that with the increasing number of countries that have sustained person-to-person spread of the coronavirus – named SARS-CoV-2 – and continued international travel, demands for the testing was increasing.
“Lancet Laboratories will be offering testing for SARS-CoV-2 from 9 March. Epidemiological information will still be collected on all patients and all results will be shared with the NICD, which remains the reference centre for this epidemic,” she said. The test would cost about R1,200. Ampath spokesperson Ragel Swartz is quoted in the report as saying the facility could not comment and Lab24 did not respond to queries.
NICD spokesperson Sinenhlanhla Jimoh said the institute had deployed more workers to the emergency operations centre after a South African tested positive for the virus. Jimoh said that while there had been an increase in the number of testings and screenings for the virus in the past few days, these were not “significantly high”.
[link url="https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/news/2020-03-08-south-africans-can-get-private-coronavirus-tests-from-monday/"]Full report in The Times[/link]