Gandhinagar: Even after a verdict of the Gujarat High Court, getting tested for Covid-19, even if you fulfill the criteria prescribed by ICMR, is very difficult as there’s a provision of mandatory hospitalisation of suspects who want to undergo Covid-19 testing by private laboratories.

The matter has now reached Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad unit of Indian Medical Association has filed the application, arguing that Gujarat government’s notification is in violation of the order issued by Gujarat High Court, as in its May 31order the High Court order had not put forth any condition that those wanting to get tested need to admit themselves to a hospital first. Medical Association has demanded to quash the notification and sought testing of all frontline healthcare workers without prior approvals.

On June 2, after a legal battle by the Ahmedabad Medical Association (AMA) and others in Gujarat High Court, the state government issued a notification allowing private laboratories to conduct Covid-19 tests on the basis of prescription from a medical practitioner. However, the government in its notification mandated that the suspect be hospitalised as a pre-condition for testing. “Now private or government labs can conduct Covid-19 test based on a prescription by private doctors and no permission would be required. Additionally, the patient who needs to be tested must be admitted in the hospital keeping in mind the possibility of infection,” stated the notification issued by Dr Prakash Vaghela, additional director (health).