Dhaka, July 4 -- As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Bangladesh, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has reduced the fees for RT-PCR and rapid antigen tests at private hospitals.

From now on, private hospitals and clinics will not be allowed to charge more than Tk 2,000 for RT-PCR tests and Tk 500 for rapid antigen tests.

Until now, private hospitals and diagnostic centres had been charging Tk 3,000 for RT-PCR and Tk 700 for antigen tests.

The new directive was issued on Wednesday by Dr Halimur Rashid, line director of the Communicable Disease Control unit at DGHS, and sent to all private hospitals and clinics in the country.

The decision to revise testing fees at private facilities was made at a meeting of the committ...