The Ministry of Health has reduced the Covid-19 testing fee from Shs240,500 to Shs185,000.
The new cost is for people seeking testing services in Government Laboratories including truck drivers at the different Points of Entry; individuals seeking to know their Covid-19 status; people seeking Covid-19 certificates for international travel; organizations (both Government and private) that wish to test their staff for purposes of prevention; Ugandans and visitors from abroad without negative Covid- 19 certificates.
In August this year, Uganda introduced a test fee for the novel virus as the country ran short of test kits amid increased demand for the service following a spike in Covid-19 cases.
However, according to the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary Dr Diana Atwine, they have decided to cut on the fees following the resumption of international flights that have reduced the cost of transporting laboratory testing kits and other supplies from the point of manufacture to Uganda.
“Please note that government will continue to offer free testing services to patients who present to health facilities with Covid-19 symptoms, contacts of people who have tested positive for Covid-19, community surveys to establish the extent of spread of the virus, surveillance samples and frontline health workers,” Dr Atwine said in a statement on Saturday.
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