ADUN SPEAKS | Expand Covid-19 testing beyond close contacts
ADUN SPEAKS | With the massive relaxation of the conditional movement control order (MCO), the Health Ministry should expand Covid-19 testing beyond close contact to catch new infections early.
Interstate travel is likely to increase a lot, and the risk of Covid-19 spreading further and faster is very real. The ministry should and increase mass testing to ease detection of new cases early to prevent further spread of the coronavirus.
The groups that I would like to encourage the ministry to include in its screening capacity are...
ADUN SPEAKS | With the massive relaxation of the conditional movement control order (MCO), the Health Ministry should expand Covid-19 testing beyond close contacts to catch new infections early.
Interstate travel is likely to increase, and the risk of Covid-19 spreading further and faster is very real. The ministry should increase mass testing to ease detection of new cases early to prevent further spread of the coronavirus.
The groups that I would like to encourage the ministry to include in its screening capacity are:
- Those with high-risk professions
- Casual contacts
- Anyone with symptoms but with no close contact
After my recent suggestions, I'm glad that many private clinics are now roped in to conduct mass Covid-19 testing for foreign workers, with the government supplying the test kits and the clinics providing the clinical service to test.
I’ve also demonstrated that Covid-19 testing using the rapid test kit (antigen) (RTK-AG) can be done for RM70 without any subsidy. With the government buying the test kit in bulk and the clinics providing the service on a large scale, this price can easily come down to RM50 or less.
With the mass deployment of RTK-AG to clinics nationwide, it is now more feasible to expand the testing from selected close contacts to a wider group of people.
High-risk professions such as our beloved frontliners and those who are forced to work in spaces that are difficult to social distance, such as markets or ride-hailing drivers, should be tested very regularly.
Only the Health Ministry has the statistics of which professions/sectors are most commonly infected, and by using that data, they should zoom in on those targets.
Besides that, anyone who declares to be in contact such as casual contacts should be given the opportunity for an RTK-AG test. Fear and anxiety among the people are increasing every day as they receive news that an area they visited or a place that they live in has detected a positive case.
Since launching the RM70 test, many who have come forward are those who have come into contact with a Covid-19 patient and are taking the test for their peace of mind and that of their loved ones.
Take for example the recent outbreak at Uncle Don’s in SS2. Many customers called my Covid-19 hotline to register for the RTK-AG testing because the Health Ministry did not reach out to them as they did not fulfil its close contact criteria.
I myself went for the test after MBPJ councillor John Leong was found positive eight days after I last met him over a meal.
Since the beginning of this pandemic, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has emphasised the importance of mass testing and named it as the most effective way to prevent further spread of the virus.
With so much medical resources available around the country, utilising them efficiently may be the first battle we win against the war on Covid-19. The anxiety and worry of the people can be reduced.
I strongly urge the Health Ministry to expand testing beyond close contacts and engage private clinics to delegate the workload so that all our healthcare providers are safe and all resources available are used efficiently.
RAJIV RISHYAKARAN is assemblyperson for Bukit Gasing.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
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