Bengaluru, The Karnataka health department on Friday froze the testing cost of suspected Covid cases in private laboratories at Rs 2,250, an official said on Friday.

"The cost per test has been fixed at Rs 2,250," said Health and Family Welfare Department's Additional Chief Secretary Jawaid Akhtar in a statement.

Private labs are allowed to test Covid samples subject to meeting requirements such as following all the protocols laid down by the Central government.

Stating that there is an urgent need to add more private laboratories to test suspected cases, Akhtar said the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has approved 16 labs in the state to test the samples, 11 government labs and five private ones.