Private Hospital Procedures for Conduct of PCR Tests Re-visited

General Shavendra Silva, Head of the National Operation Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO),Chief of Defence Staff, and Commander of the Army, together with Dr Asela Gunawardena, Director General Health Services this afternoon (20) had a discussion with private sector health authorities on the conduct of PCR tests against payments, irregularities reported about violation of Health Ministry-laid protocols and limitations and capacities, non-compliance with Ministry directives, etc.

During this interactive session, Head, NOCPCO instructed Private Hospitals, authorized to conduct PCR tests to do so in line with guidelines, set out by Ministry of Health without resorting to malpractices and charging exorbitant sums of money from clients. He also told them that complaints received by the NOCPCO claimed that some hospitals have completely violated guidelines and gone to exceed their capacities without following Ministry procedures.

He also urged them to coordinate with the Epidemiology Unit with numbers of PCR tests to be conducted in their respective hospitals. Representative also expressed their concerns during this meet.