The Health Ministry has procured reliable antigen rapid test kits from South Korea with the aim to help boost COVID-19 testing.

The Health Director-General, Datuk Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah said that the antigen test kits are produced by a South Korea firm, SD Biosensor, "have a sensitivity rate of 84.4% and specificity rate of 100%," and it is expected to arrive by next week.

  
Photo source The Star

“With the antigen rapid test kit, testing can be done at the point of care. That means you do not need to send the swab test samples to our 43 labs to get the results...It can actually be done at clinics or hospitals. They just need to be equipped with biosafety cabinets,” said the Health DG at the daily press conference.

Dr. Noor Hisham told the press that the ministry had previously tested out several test kits but was unable to find one with a high level of accuracy.

“The existing PCR (polymerize chain reaction) tests would complement the antigen rapid test kits if there are any doubts over the results.

“This is what we are trying to embark on.

"We have already placed our procurement. Hopefully in the next week or so we can get it.

“Once we do, we can aim for more targeted mass screening, ” said Dr. Noor Hisham.

  
Photo source C+D.

He added that the country currently has 43 labs which could produce up to 11,500 Covid-19 test results in a day.

With the new rapid test kits, the ministry will be able to escalate its capacity nearer to the targeted number of 16,500 tests a day.

The Health DG also explained that the country will not conduct a mass screening, instead, the ministry will run targeted mass screening.

“We target specific locations and high-risk groups, ” he added.

He explained to the press earlier on, that mass screening is less effective as the detection rate is lower. Focusing the screening on the high-risk group, on the other hand, is believed to be able to achieve a higher detection rate. 

  
Photo source Fly FM.

News source from The Star and New Straits Times.