Counties like Iasi, Cluj and Timis, too, have private operators offering tests by request, while other counties have to rely on county or city hospitals and the public health departments in their area.
The largest lab networks – Synevo, Bioclinica, Sante, are on the list of the Health Ministry and are also the largest by revenue. The major private healthcare providers like MedLife, Regina Maria and Gral, too, have entered this niche of tests by request and retrofitted their labs to meet demand.
A number of 500,000 Romanians have gone to get tested by request in the past two months, according to officially available data. Considering one such test costs 300 to 500 lei on average, people have paid RON150 million to get tested for COVID-19 so far, ZF has calculated.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)