Govt to start using South Korean-made rapid test kits

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah says the South Korean-made antigen rapid test kits have proven to be accurate.

PUTRAJAYA: The health ministry will start using antigen rapid test kits from South Korea, which have been proven to have high accuracy.

This way, health officials can quickly determine who is positive for Covid-19, instead of waiting for results after sending samples for testing to any of the 43 Covid-19 labs.

“We have placed orders for these antigen rapid test kits,” said health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

“Hopefully, by next week or so, once we get the kits, we can aim to do mass screening.”

He said the ministry was already carrying out mass screening, though this was at a targeted level in certain locations and only among high-risk groups.

Noor Hisham said more than 90,000 individuals in the country have been tested for Covid-19 to date, with 5.4% testing positive.

He said the ministry was also screening foreign workers though some had not stepped forward.

“We are working with NGOs, including Mercy Malaysia and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to provide services (for foreigners),” he said, adding that these efforts would be enhanced.

He said tests had also been carried out on 465 foreign workers at the Selayang market, with 13, or 3%, testing positive.

Noor Hisham said the ministry had not seen any cluster forming among foreign workers, but it would continue to monitor the situation and take appropriate action.

He said some of the 28 Covid-19 clusters had been closed as there had been no new cases originating from them for 14 days.

However, some still had active cases and they would be monitored for an additional 14 days.

“What is important now is to focus on tahfiz students, as we believe some have contracted the virus from the (Sri Petaling mosque) tabligh.

“The cases involving tahfiz students are increasing. What is important is that we are screening them,” he said.

He said there were 9,842 tahfiz students in 304 madrasahs nationwide, most of whom had returned home. The ministry had tested 2,697 of these students, with 250, or 9.3%, testing positive.

“We are still screening and testing tahfiz students,” he said.

On infected children, Noor Hisham said there were 315 cases involving those aged 14 and below. Most of them were infected by their parents and, as such, were placed in isolation together with them.

For those whose parents did not have Covid-19 but wanted to be with their children, they would have to sign a consent form and wear personal protective equipment (PPE), he said.

Noor Hisham also said that while Kedah, Perlis and Penang did not register any new cases over the past few days, they would have to wait for the 14-day incubation period to be over before they could be considered “green” zones.

“It is important to protect these green areas, whether they are states, townships or districts,” he said.

On the acknowledgement he had received as one of the world’s top three leading doctors tackling Covid-19, Noor Hisham said it was more of an affirmation of the country’s efforts as it was a collective effort of all government ministries, agencies and frontliners.

Yesterday, China Global TV Network named Noor Hisham, United States National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr Anthony Fauci and New Zealand health director-general Dr Ashley Bloomfield as the three leading figures in the fight against Covid-19. - FMT