To beef up the infrastructure for screening, the government approved 56 laboratories for testing in addition to 136 government-run labs and set a price cap of 4,500 Indian rupees ($59.13) for every test.

The plan is to scale up to 20,000 tests in the next few days and eventually to 100,000 a day in the worse-case scenario.

But the court decision threatens to derail the plan to widen testing, said Shamika Ravi, a former member of the Indian Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council and a health specialist.

India says lockdown has spared it from overwhelming number of coronavirus cases

“We, thus, issue following interim directions to the respondents: (i)The tests relating to Covid-19 whether in approved Government Laboratories or approved private Laboratories shall be free of cost. The respondents (Centre and other authorities) shall issue necessary direction in this regard immediately,” the bench said.

“They (doctors and healthcare professionals) are warriors. They have to be protected,” the bench observed, adding, “You have to think how to start production. Service sector is working from home. Their well being and mental health is also important”.

The meet comes amidst indications that the Central government may extend the lockdown across the country beyond April 14 after several states have favoured the extension to contain the fast-spreading virus, as the positive cases in the country show no signs of any let up.

The world could be on the brink a food scare as the coronavirus upends supply chains and sends prices for key staples higher. Prices of rice and wheat — crops that account for a third of the world’s calories — are rapidly climbing.

The total number of coronavirus cases in India today hit the 5,000 mark, according to the latest figures from the Health Ministry. With 1,018 cases, Maharashtra was the worst hit state, followed by Tamil Nadu at 690 and Delhi at 576, Telangana at Telangana 364 and Kerala at 336 India