All individuals in TRNC will have to pay for PCR or rapid tests as of September 1

PCR and rapid tests will no longer be free as of September 1, according to the latest decision adopted by the Council of Ministers.

According to the decisions published in the Official Gazette, as of the beginning of next month, all individuals will have to pay for their PCR or rapid tests as well as their quarantine expenses if they are unable to isolate at home in the event they test positive or come into contact with a positive case.

However, the cost of electronic wristbands of individuals who test positive or are contacts of positive cases will be covered by the state should they isolate at home.

All workplaces and businesses will have to register their employees with the health ministry. PCR costs will either be covered by the employees themselves or by their employers.

Individuals travelling to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus will have present proof of payment for PCR tests when entering the country.

Payment for PCR or rapid tests will be accepted on the spot at private hospitals, labs and health centers.

Payment for PCR or rapid tests to be carried out at public hospitals, health centers and labs will be made possible online when applying for appointments.

PCR tests will cost a maximum of ₺100 and rapid tests will cost a maximum of 40TL.

These are the new rules published in the Official Gazette:

1. Potential PCR/Antigen/Quarantine expenses of all persons will be covered by themselves.

2. The PCR/Antigen expenses to be made by registering the personnel employed by all workplaces through the Ministry of Health system will be covered by employers or their employees.

3. If the person concerned wants to stay in the quarantine hotel on the grounds that he does not have a suitable place to stay in case of contact or testing positive, the hotel expenses of the people who have not completed their vaccination process will be covered by them.

4. General health screening expenses to be made by the Ministry of Health will be covered by the state. General health screening records showing who was screened for which case or cases will be kept daily and brought to the Prime Ministry in a one-month period.

5. Depending on the decisions of the Communicable Diseases Supreme Committee, PCR/Antigen tests that may be requested upon departure or entry into the country must be submitted and/or the payment must be documented before passing through the relevant air/sea/land gates.

6. PCR/Antigen tests can only be performed in laboratories authorized by the Ministry of Health.

7. Authorized laboratories must enter the test results into the Ministry of Health system. Otherwise, the results will not be considered valid and the permissions of the relevant laboratories will be revoked.

8. Persons who will perform PCR/Antigen tests must first register on the Ministry of Health system, choose the laboratory where they will test, and pay the test fee to the relevant laboratory during the test.

9. Those who receive social assistance will be exempted from the fee if their PCR/Antigen test is performed in a hospital or health centre affiliated to the Ministry of Health.

10. If the PCR/Antigen test is desired to be performed in a hospital or health center affiliated to the Ministry of Health, the payment must be made using a credit or debit card on the registration page.

11. Since the general health screening to be carried out by the Ministry of Health will be for the detection of the disease in connection with positive and contact persons, for the purpose of control to prevent its spread, no exemption or exception will be granted to any natural or legal person, including public employees, from the rule and remuneration.

12. General health screening to be carried out by the Ministry of Health will only be carried out by public employees, and no service will be received from any private health institution in this regard.

13. In the case of those people who need to wear a wristband because they have tested positive for Covid or have been in contact with an infected person, the cost of the wristband will be covered by the state.

14. The maximum price in test fees has been determined as 100 TL for PCR and 40 TL for Antigen, and tests can be performed below these figures.

15. The rules in this decision will come into effect as of September, 1, 2021.