PETALING JAYA: Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah announced on his Twitter account today that two saliva COVID-19 test kits are expected to launch by next week.
According to him, the test kits were designed by the Institute for Medical Research Malaysia (IMR) and has a 90% sensitivity rate.
“The MDA (Medical Device Authority) is detailing the usage guidelines and Insha Allah (God willing), it will be completed next week.”
Despite the announcement, netizens were unconvinced by the test kits’ ability in combatting COVID-19 and criticised the Health Ministry’s lack of initiative in releasing the test kits sooner.
Some, on the other hand, defended Noor Hisham and said that such research takes time.
Some also pointed out that self-testing kits were already made available in other countries during the initial stage of COVID-19.
Many hoped that the self-testing kits would be easily accessible and reasonably priced so that it wouldn’t add to their financial burden.
Even though Malaysia seems to be lagging behind in producing the kits, several netizens praised the Health Ministry’s efforts in curbing the pandemic.
What is your stance? You can read the post here:
Dua ujian kendiri (Rapid Antigen test) air liur telah selesai dikaji oleh IMR untuk saringan Covid-19. Kedua-dua mempunyai sensitiviti melebhi 90%. MDA sedang memperincikan panduan pengunaan dan InshaAllah akan selesai minggu depan.
— Noor Hisham Abdullah (@DGHisham) July 7, 2021
Sources: Twitter/ @DGHisham, Cover image via Malay Mail & Wikipedia
Editor: J.W Chan
Proofreader: Sarah Yeoh
