KUALA LUMPUR, April 7 — Covid-19 screening conducted in Malaysia declined over the past three weeks from about 44,000 to 41,000 average daily tests, excluding foreign workers’ screening.
From March 4 until yesterday, the daily average of Covid-19 tests run, comprising both RT-PCR and RTK-Ag tests, was the highest in the week of March 4 to 10 at 44,878 tests a day, according to data released by Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah today.
The nation’s daily average of Covid-19 tests run decreased to 41,303 the following week, before increasing again to 44,094 in the week of March 18 to 24.
The average number of daily Covid-19 tests conducted then dropped to 42,144 in the week of March 25 to 31, before dropping again to 41,030 a day in a period of six days from April 1 to 6.
It is to be noted that these statistics do not include Covid-19 tests conducted under the Social Security Organisation’s (Socso) compulsory screening programme for foreign workers that was expanded nationwide since February.
Malaysia’s daily average of local Covid-19 transmissions declined from 1,684 infections in the week of March 4 to 10 to 1,289 cases in the week of April 1 to 6.
Malaysia conducted a total of 1,453,113 Covid-19 tests, including 728,414 RT-PCR tests and 724,699 RTK-Ag tests, from March 4 until April 6, excluding Socso screening. The daily testing average combining both tests in this period was about 42,739 tests.
An average of 21,424 RT-PCR and 21,315 RTK-Ag tests were conducted daily in the country in these 34 days. These test figures do not represent the number of individuals tested, as an individual may be tested more than once.
Malaysia diagnoses Covid-19 based on the gold-standard RT-PCR tests, which means that if one tests positive with the quick RTK-Ag test, they may be tested again with RT-PCR to confirm diagnosis. RTK-Ag testing allows for quicker isolation as test results are much faster than RT-PCR.
Although most states reported a continued decline in Covid-19 cases in the week of March 22 to 28 from the previous week, the World Health Organization has cautioned Malaysians to continue to be vigilant, especially with upcoming Ramadan bazaars as the organisation noticed a rise in nationwide population mobility.
