Amid the Omicron scare, the Delhi Government reduced the Rapid PCR test charges to ₹3,500 from ₹3,900, sources told BusinessLine. The revised prices are applicable from Thursday. The decision comes after the Government implemented international travel guidelines on Wednesday making it mandatory for passengers coming from “At Risk” countries to undergo Covid test.

It is to be noted that it takes around 90 minutes to get the test report of the Rapid PCR as compared with 4-5 hours in the RT-PCR which costs ₹500 in the capital. According to the Delhi Airport officials, about 80 per of the passengers are opting for Rapid PCR over RT PCR because of it being quick.

“Total 1,013 passengers from 4 ‘at risk’ flights successfully completed arrival formalities due to availability of Rapid PCR Test along with RTPCR Test.792 passengers decided to take Rapid PCR Test and 221 passengers opted for RT-PCR Test,” Delhi Airport tweeted on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, according to the Civil Aviation Ministry’s clarification statement issued on Wednesday related to new travelling guidelines, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has approved the following systems for molecular testing of SARS-CoV-2 - Open system RTPCR, TrueNat, GeneXpert, RTLAMP, CRISPR/TATAMD CHECK/FELUDA, Abbott ID Now, Accula by Thermofisher, Rapid RTPCR, CoviDx DirectPlex. Also, all the labs who would conduct the tests would follow the ICMR guidelines to ensure genome sequencing for all positive cases, the statement said.

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