The absence of testing facilities in Vizianagaram is being acutely felt by residents, with many being forced to travel all the way to Visakhapatnam city to get tested for COVID-19.
Apart from travel costs, they are forced to spend ₹1,500 on the COVID-19 tests - which is the usual rate at most of the private diagnostic labs in Visakhapatnam.
Currently, the Maharaja Institute of Medical Sciences in Nellimarla has a laboratory for conducting Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (Rt-PCR) tests. Samples collected from suspected COVID-19 patients at various primary health centres (PHCs) are sent to MIMS for testing.