Coronavirus – How much do tests at private health institutions cost?

Currently, there are two ways in Hungary to find out whether someone is infected with the coronavirus: at official state labs after receiving a test or at private clinics and laboratories. However, official tests are only done if the patient’s doctor considers it an absolute necessity. If the answer is no, the patient can use connections to reach a private clinic and buy a test. 

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Pénzcentrum reported that there are three private laboratories in Hungary where coronavirus tests can be purchased. In medicine, two tests can show viruses in the human body: one from the saliva and the other one from the blood. The first one requires seconds to do, but the results only appear after three hours. 

At private clinics, 15-minute-long quick tests are offered for patients who cannot wait that long for the results. 

Testing is efficient in discovering more infected patients and putting them into quarantine to avoid healthy people getting infected. On the other hand, it was reported that no matter its importance, Hungary does not take testing people seriously as the number of completed tests are the lowest in the region, and our daily average cannot even compete with other countries’.