KATHMANDU: The health ministry on Wednesday threatened to punish hospitals that were charging people for conducting polymerase chain reaction tests.

“The government has been footing the bill for coronavirus testing,” said Gautam. Only Patan Hospital in Lalitpur and Bir Hospital and Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu have been allowed to charge Rs 5,500 for each swab sample they screen for coronavirus using PCR method.

The ministry has also appealed to people not to venture out of their homes unnecessarily. Those who are out should be wearing mask and maintaining at least two-metre distance from others, added the ministry.

It has also threatened to punish those who discriminate against or stigmatise COVID patients who have recovered from the disease.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on July 9, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.