Paphos mayor: Government should regulate 'black market pricing' of COVID-19 tests

Condemning the fact that some are taking advantage of the health crisis and making extraordinary profits, Paphos Mayor Phedonas Phedonos demanded on Friday that the government moves to set the price of coronavirus lab tests through a decree.

In a written announcement, the Paphos Mayor said that according to data he has collected, labs shouldn’t charge over €50 for a coronavirus test, even though private labs and the Institute of Neurology and Genetics are currently charging double and triple that amount.

Phedonos said that the 20,000 targeted tests on employees of private and public sector businesses that haven’t ceased operations the government announced this week will cost the state €2.5 million according to current test prices, which are in the €100-€150 price range.

He added that it only took a few days of research, involving contacting scientific experts and looking into the experiences of those who recently conducted the round of targeted testing in Paphos, to find out that the tests should cost no more than €50.

The reasoning that ‘we should see what the Institute of Neurology and Genetics or other countries are charging’ cannot stand”, Phedonos said, describing the current situation as “black-market” charging.

“The money that the state will pay is unfair and provocative that it will go into the pockets of some,” he said, stressing that the government is obliged to immediately step in and set the price of coronavirus testing.