In front of JR Shinbashi Station in Tokyo, where there are numerous restaurants and multitenant buildings, a popular newly opened business could be seen drawing a steady stream of customers.

Around noon, office workers were entering the test venue on the first floor of a building one after another, where a large sign proclaimed “new coronavirus PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test center.” 

A 36-year-old man, who works for a manufacturer, visited the venue to take a test for the novel coronavirus before leaving on a business trip. He said he had been advised by a client outside the capital that he “should not go outside of Tokyo.”

“It (my testing negative) will give my clients a sense of security,” he said.

A subsidiary of Tokyo-based contractor Kinoshita Group Co. opened the testing facility on Dec. 4. It provides the testing service under the supervision of a medical corporation within Kinoshita Group.

The facility is one of a succession of private centers offering PCR tests priced at several thousands of yen that have opened in central Tokyo and elsewhere, luring in those planning to go on business trips or visit their hometowns.

“It is good that the total test capacity has increased,” said health minister Norihisa Tamura at a Dec. 8 news conference following a Cabinet meeting. “But it should be noted that they (private examinations) are not covered by the government's infection control system unlike those available at medical centers with ensured precision.”

As infected individuals could falsely test negative depending on the timing and accuracy of the examination, the health ministry is calling on consumers to reflect carefully on the results.

Still, the convenience and affordability of the private testing centers attracted a 26-year-old company employee, who booked a test in no time.

The woman planned to travel to her hometown in Kyoto Prefecture on the weekend and opted for a PCR test because of its “much cheaper price.”

“I am worried about the possibility of my transmitting the virus, but the most important thing is that the test will make my elderly parents feel safe,” she said.

RESERVATIONS ONLY

At the Kinoshita testing facility at Shinbashi Station, tests are conducted on a reservation-based system. Saliva samples are taken at the site and tested, and the results are emailed to testees the following day. No doctor examinations are included in the service.

Kinoshita Group said it can offer the test for no more than 2,900 yen ($28), before taxes, because it makes bulk purchases of equipment and test kits.

The testing facility can handle up to 780 people daily, but it has already been fully booked until the year-end.

While the service was initially designed exclusively for employees in the group and corporate customers, the new center was established for the general public based on the company's accumulated know-how.

An additional six facilities are planned in the Kabukicho district of the capital’s Shinjuku Ward and other areas in the Tokyo metropolitan region, according to officials, and more testing centers are being considered outside the region as well.

While Kinoshita Group formerly accepted those wanting to see doctors via the internet to obtain certificates for overseas trips and other reasons, it was forced to stop offering the doctor consultations after so many reservations flooded in. 

PRECAUTIONS URGED

There are two kinds of tests for the novel coronavirus: administrative examination managed by public authorities under the infectious disease prevention law and private-sector tests made available by nongovernmental entities.

Administrative examinations cater to people with fevers and other conditions as well as those who had close contact with infected individuals, and are covered by taxpayers’ money.

Services by private organizations are open to anyone, and their costs must be paid out of one’s own pocket. Such tests were aggressively introduced, because demand grows in tandem with resumption of economic activities and because many test kits have been developed.

Private tests previously cost tens of thousands of yen, but manufacturers are currently vying for customers by lowering prices.

Softbank Group Corp. provides a PCR test mainly for corporate customers at 2,000 yen, before taxes. A medical start-up firm on Dec. 10 started a testing center for the public priced at 1,980 yen, taxes included, per test in front of Tokyo Station. The center was relocated to a larger venue in the Nihonbashi district on Dec. 14 to deal with surging demand. 

Consumers should keep some precautions in mind about such services. A specific percentage of infected people falsely test negative in PCR analysis. On top of that, the virus cannot be detected immediately after one contracts it.

The health ministry has released those issues to urge caution on its website at (https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/0000121431_00199.html).

As the accuracy differs among private institutes, the ministry is expected to develop a list of private test centers to show their costs and precision control methods as well as whether doctor diagnoses are offered by year-end based on interviews.

At the news conference on Dec. 8, Tamura also said that people suspected to be affected by the virus via private tests should visit medical centers, given that patients testing positive in tests not overseen by doctors do not have to report the findings to public health centers.

“Public health centers will be able to confirm patients as positive only when they are tested at hospitals,” he said.