It said it does not include fees to obtain samples, cost of personal protective equipment (PPE) and consultation.

This follows health minister Dr Adham Baba’s announcement that prices for Covid-19 tests have been capped to ensure they remain reasonable.

He said the capped prices had been gazetted under the Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance 2021 on May 11 to serve as a guideline for the public when paying for such tests.

In a statement today, APHM said the capped prices only covered the cost of the lab charges and were not inclusive of the “fees to obtain the sample, cost of personal protective equipment and consultation fee with the medical personnel”.

APHM president, Dr Kuljit Singh, said this was confirmed through a letter from the ministry’s deputy director-general for research and technical support, dated June 1, to all the private laboratories.

He said private hospitals would decide the final price for Covid-19 tests, “which will include the laboratory charges and other costs for the public to choose”. The cost will vary from each hospital based on its service and location.

“However, it will be kept as low as possible to cover the total cost,” he said.

The government has set the ceiling price for polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests at RM150, RTK-Antigen tests at RM60 and RTK-Antibody tests at RM50 in Peninsular Malaysia.

The ceiling price for RT-PCR tests in Sabah and Sarawak is RM200, RTK-Antigen tests is RM80 and RTK-Antibody tests is RM70.

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