Gov't foots RM700 for every person it needs to test for Covid-19

CORONAVIRUS | Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin today revealed that the government is footing around RM700 per person for every time it needs to test someone for Covid-19 at public hospitals.

"I was informed that it is around RM700 per head. It is not free.

"People don't pay, so it is free (in that sense) but the government is the one footing the cost," he told a press conference in Putrajaya after chairing the Economic Action Council meeting.

He said this when asked if private hospitals charging between RM580 to RM700 for Covid-19 tests was too high.

"For the private sector, they need to set a reasonable rate. If it's RM500 or RM600, following market rate, it is quite reasonable.

"But don't charge up to RM1,000 or more. That would be a burden. I am confident that the (private) hospitals also have a social responsibility during a time of emergency and will not add to that burden with excessive cost," he said.

He added that at present, there were no plans to regulate the cost for Covid-19 tests at private hospitals.

As of yesterday, the Health Ministry has tested 15,196 people for Covid-19.

Based on Muhyiddin's provided cost, this comes up to RM10.6 million.

Health Ministry director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah previously said the government can test up to 4,500 people in a day and hopes to ramp this up to 7,000 a day next week and 16,000 a day by next month.

Muhyiddin, at the press conference this afternoon, also urged employers to advise their foreign workers to get tested if they have reasons to suspect that they may be infected.

Asked if discounts would be provided to foreign workers, Muhyiddin said treatment subsidies are only for citizens.

However, the Health Ministry had previously announced that foreigners would be exempted from fees for Covid-19 treatment.

This is so as not to discourage them from coming forward, which could worsen the spread of Covid-19.

Keep up with the latest information on the outbreak in the country with Malaysiakini's free Covid-19 tracker. 

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