The Coronavirus is spreading rapidly all over the world and shows no sign of abatement. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has classified the outbreak as a pandemic and has asked countries to work towards its containment urgently and aggressively. In India, the total number of COVID-19-infected persons has risen up to 107, with 2 confirmed deaths.
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While most of us must be chanting corona at even the slightest onset of a sneeze or cough, and taking it very lightly, it is a cause of serious concern. And looking at the severity and the rate of infection, and the swift measures taken by the government, one must think that getting tested must be a pretty straightforward task. Go to your nearest healthcare, get tested, get quarantined and get the necessary treatment. However, it is not that simple.
There are only 52 designated-government testing centres all over India. Unlike South Korea, the government has not planned on mass testings. Only if you or anyone you know is suffering from any of the symptoms of the disease (fever, cough, running nose, breathlessness and chills), AND has travel history to any of the COVID-infected countries (China, Iran, Italy, Republic of Korea, France, Spain and Germany) or contact history, where you have been in close contact with a person known to have COVID-19, you can be suspected of getting infected and need to be tested.
However, the buck does not stop here. Whether you can be tested or not solely depends on the discretion of the doctor testing you. Even if you have travel history! Shocked? Read on!
Recently, one of our followers posted something like this. She returned from the Philippines last Saturday, and went to test herself as a responsible citizen. She had cough and cold before she left for the trip, which continued all throughout, even when she returned. She was advised by a doctor at Raheja hospital, Mumbai, to immediately get tested and so she went to Kasturba, in Mumbai, which is a Govt-designated testing centre. However, the doctor at the OPD told her that she did not have enough symptoms of the virus to get tested. He also told her that he was forced to sit there. Read her post here.
List Of The 52 Testing Centres For Coronavirus In India
If you or anyone you know is suspected of COVID-19, one should go and get tested irrespective. The test is free and involves sampling of various bodily fluids. Here is the list of the 52 government-designated laboratories all over India, according to Indian Council Of Medical Research (ICMR).
State/UT List
Andhra Pradesh
1. Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences, Tirupati
2. Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh
Andaman & Nicobar islands
3. GMC, Anantapur, AP
4. Regional Medical Research Centre, Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar
Assam
5. Gauhati Medical College, Guwahati
6. Regional Medical Research Center, Dibrugarh
Bihar
7. Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna
Chandigarh
8. Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh
Chhattisgarh
9. All India Institute Medical Sciences, Raipur
Delhi-NCT
10. All India Institute Medical Sciences, Delhi
11. National Centre for Disease Control, Delhi
Gujarat
12. BJ Medical College, Ahmedabad
13. M.P.Shah Government Medical College, Jamnagar
Haryana
14. Pt. B.D. Sharma Post Graduate Inst. of Med. Sciences, Rohtak, Haryana
15. BPS Govt Medical College, Sonipat
Himachal Pradesh
16. Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh
17. Dr.Rajendra Prasad Govt. Med. College, Kangra, Tanda, HP
Jammu and Kashmir
18. Sher‐e‐Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar
19. Government Medical College, Jammu
Jharkhand
20. MGM Medical College, Jamshedpur
Karnataka
21. Bangalore Medical College & Research Institute, Bangalore
22. National Institute of Virology Field Unit Bangalore
23. Mysore Medical College & Research Institute, Mysore
24. Hassan Inst. of Med. Sciences, Hassan, Karnataka
25. Shimoga Inst. of Med. Sciences, Shivamogga, Karnataka
Kerala
26. National Institute of Virology Field Unit, Kerala
27. Govt. Medical College, Thriuvananthapuram, Kerala
28. Govt. Medical College, Kozhikhode, Kerala
Madhya Pradesh
29. All India Institute Medical Sciences, Bhopal
30. National Institute of Research in Tribal Health (NIRTH), Jabalpur
Meghalaya
31. NEIGRI of Health and Medical Sciences, Shillong, Meghalaya
Maharashtra
32. Indira Gandhi Government Medical College, Nagpur
33. Kasturba Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Mumbai
Manipur
34. J N Inst. of Med. Sciences Hospital, Imphal‐East, Manipur
Odisha
35. Regional Medical Research Center, Bhubaneswar
Puducherry
36. Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research, Puducherry
Punjab
37. Government Medical College, Patiala, Punjab
38. Government Medical College, Amritsar
Rajasthan
39. Sawai Man Singh, Jaipur
40. Dr. S.N Medical College, Jodhpur
41. Jhalawar Medical College, Jhalawar, Rajasthan
42. SP Med. College, Bikaner, Rajasthan
Tamil Nadu
43. King’s Institute of Preventive Medicine & Research, Chennai
44. Government Medical College, Theni
Tripura
45. Government Medical College, Agartala
Telangana
46. Gandhi Medical College, Secunderabad
Uttar Pradesh
47. King’s George Medical University, Lucknow
48. Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
49. Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh
Uttarakhand
50. Government Medical College, Haldwani
West Bengal
51. National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Kolkata
52. IPGMER, Kolkata
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