KOTA KINABALU – Funding remains the No. 1 challenge faced by Universiti Malaysia Sabah's (UMS) Covid-19 testing laboratory.
The lab that was set up in June has been assisting the Health Ministry with the state’s Covid-19 tests.
Lab chief Dr Sylvia Daim, tasked with coordinating testing, said the lab has so far carried out 5,000 Covid-19 tests since June.
She said the challenges it faced include limited personnel, funding and supplies.
“Funding for our lab operations is currently not on a continuous basis. Funding is needed to purchase consumables and supplies for the lab, such as testing reagents, PPE (personal protective equipment) and so on.”
She said it received RM655,000 in May to establish the test lab from the then Warisan-led state government, but at present, the funding they receive for the lab operations is from the Higher Education Ministry via UMS.
“The laboratory has nine personnel divided into three groups – the core team, first and second back-up teams, each with three personnel.
“Between us, we can process about 200 samples each day, but these days, we are processing about 100 on average following the downtrend in new cases.
“At present, with an estimated 200 test samples per day for 26 days, the cost is close to RM1 million monthly as each reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) Covid test cost about RM200.
“With our current reagent stock, if we were to process 200 test samples every day monthly, we estimate it will last until the end of January.
“If Sabah cases continue to be on a downtrend, our supplies should be able to last until April.” – The Vibes, November 25, 2020
