Medical website Practo will now let users book appointments for COVID-19 tests through its online portal. This comes after the government asked private hospitals to conduct testing for the disease, based on guidelines issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) couple weeks ago.

Practo is an online healthcare portal where people can find and book an appointment with doctors based on their symptoms and needs. Now, the Bengaluru-based company, along with Thyrocare, has announced that COVID-19 detection can be booked on the portal. The company stated that the testing has been authorised by the Government of India and The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

For now, the online appointments for tests will only be available to Mumbai residents but Practo has plans to offer the ability all over India. But that doesn’t mean anyone can get a test done, as people would require to present a "valid doctor’s prescription, duly filled Test Requisition Form signed by the physician, and a photo ID card” at the time of testing. Also, the test costs INR 4500.

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Additionally, the samples or swabs will be collected by certified phlebotomists based on the guidelines set by ICMR. The samples within a viral transport medium will then be transported in a cold chain to the Thyrocare's diagnostic laboratory. The report of the test will be available within 24-48 hours on the Practo website.

While highlighting the emphasis put on testing to combat the spread of coronavirus, the Chief Health Strategy Officer of Practo Dr Alexander Kuruvilla said in the blog post, "We’ve partnered with Thyrocare to ensure that access to these tests is not an issue. We will continue to work closely with the authorities to identify more such areas where Practo can solve for accessibility – be it for doctor consultations, testing or medicine delivery."

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