Sabah receives 5,000 Covid-19 reagent test kits

The RMAF flight brought 5,000 reagent test kits for Covid-19, face masks, disinfectant and other equipment for use by health personnel in Sabah. (Bernama pic)

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah state government today received 5,000 Covid-19 reagent test kits.

State secretary Safar Untong said the test kits, worth RM900,000, were sourced from Singapore.

They were sent to Sabah by the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) using a Royal Malaysian Air Force aircraft.

He said with the arrival of the reagent test kits, the Sabah government hoped tests on the remaining samples could be accelerated.

“Sabah has also received 200,000 face masks, 50,000 pairs of gloves, 10,000 litres of disinfectant and some other essential items to be used at the health ministry laboratory in Sabah.

“We are thankful to Nadma for working hard to deliver the medical supplies to Sabah.

“These supplies are very critical and very much needed,” he told reporters after receiving the medical equipment at Terminal 2, Kota Kinabalu International Airport, here today.

Sabah Health Department director Dr Christina Rundi said the reagent test kits received today would last a week, depending on how many Covid-19 detection tests needed to be done.

At present, she said the department has about 3,000 samples that have yet to be processed, with the laboratory conducting 700 to 800 tests daily.

“Thus, there is a continuous need for these reagent test kits,” she said. - FMT