PETALING JAYA: The government has rolled out various measures to boost Covid-19 testing in facing the third wave of infections, says health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
These measures include increasing testing capacities in laboratories for Reverse-Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) tests and outsourcing tests to private laboratories.
Other measures include using Antigen Rapid Test Kits (RTK-Ag) to detect Covid-19 faster and in larger numbers, as well as testing for the virus using saliva samples which is much easier and faster.
Noor Hisham’s remarks come amid calls for mass testing, particularly in Covid-19 hotspots, following the steep rise in cases and deaths in recent weeks.
In a statement, Noor Hisham said since the start of the year, a total of 8.5 million Covid-19 tests were carried out, with the number of tests increasing in recent weeks.
On average, some 63,925 tests were carried out each week between the 15th to 18th week of the year.
He added all laboratories which carry out Covid-19 tests are required to input the test results into a centralised system which can be accessed by district health offices and the health ministry.
“The public are reminded to continue adhering to SOPs, especially during the movement control order.” - FMT
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