All news

Russia’s home coronavirus test to cost $16.5

Russia’s consumer watchdog will be notified if the coronavirus test is positive

MOSCOW, April 6. /TASS/. The price of a coronavirus test that can be carried out at home by employing a practically contactless method without factoring in the ambulance fee is set at $16.5, Russia’s consumer watchdog (Rospotrebnadzor) official Yelena Tivanova said Monday.

"The test will cost 1,250 rubles ($16.5 - TASS) plus the ambulance fee depending where the patient is," she noted.

"To carry out the test, you need to fill out a special form, dial the call center, make an appointment and you will be told when we can come. We are required to notify Rospotrebnadzor if the coronavirus test is positive," she added.

On April 6, the Russian consumer watchdog’s molecular diagnostics center started offering commercial coronavirus tests, providing an opportunity to carry out the test even if it is not medically recommended. The biomaterial is taken at home in almost contactless manner. The result comes back in one-two days via email. The test is highly specific and sensitive which rules out false positives, the watchdog added.

In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.

On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. To date, approximately 1,300,000 people have been infected worldwide and roughly 70,000 deaths have been reported. That said, over 265,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.

So far, a total of 6,343 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 406 patients having recovered from the virus. The country’s latest data indicates 47 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.