KUALA LUMPUR – The Health Ministry is looking to increase its current capacity of daily Covid-19 screenings to more than 100,000 soon.
Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said once the 100,000 daily tests are reached, the ministry will look into raising the number to 150,000 per day with the help of other parties, such as the private sector.
He said since the start of the pandemic, the country has been raising the capacity of the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) screenings from 23 labs carrying out 1,000 tests daily to 68 labs able to conduct more than 70,000 tests.
"We are looking at our RT-PCR test capacity and, God willing, we will be able to raise our ability (to more than) 100,000 and we also raise the usage of the Antigen Rapid Test Kit (RTK-Ag) to detect positive cases," he told his daily press conference.
He said that the ministry is using RT-PCR screenings for diagnosis. He said Sabah has six labs, while Peninsular Malaysia has 68 labs in total.
"We will raise the capacity to over 100,000 tests in the near future.
"We will also add labs in hospitals, such as those in Lahad Datu, Tawau and so on, and we will place more labs in other hospitals."
He added that the ministry is also looking to raise the capacity to 150,000 screenings a day, but this will be based on working closely with the private health sector, universities and the army to raise the rate of testing with the existing facilities.
However, the screenings have to first reach to 100,000 a day before it can be raised by another 50,000, he said.
Although the labs are currently operating at 63% capacity, Dr Noor Hisham said the ministry is always looking into ways in which this can be increased.
"This is where we need to train more people because, when we started, we only had 23 labs and we also trained the private sector. So, we encourage the private sector to come in.
"Now, we need to maximise the capacity in the public and private sectors, working together as one."
Private sector contribution
Dr Noor Hisham said private hospitals have been assisting the ministry since the second wave of the pandemic.
"For example, we have mobilised some staff from the private sector to work with us in Sg Buloh (Hospital) since the second wave. We have also sent non-Covid patients to private hospitals so that we don't congest public hospitals."
Dr Noor Hisham added that some private hospitals were even managing Covid-19 cases without referring them to public health facilities.
He said apart from integrating staff, the ministry is now looking at integrating with private hospitals, meaning more training will be done in both sectors to help control the outbreak.
"But more important is that, under the emergency ordinance, we have overridden the Annual Practice Certificates, which designates where (doctors) can practice. Now that we have done away with that, it means that a healthcare professional can work in the public sector and be mobilised to the private sector, and from one hospital to another.
"Now, (doctors) can practice anywhere as long as the service is needed. That helps us to enhance and maximise the resources that we have in the public and private sectors, working as one because we have a common enemy."
He expressed optimism that the joining of forces, coupled with the reimposed movement control order (MCO) in all but one state, will help bring about a decline in infections within three or four weeks. – The Vibes, January 21, 2021
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