The Batu Pahat district health office recently rejected applications by Parit Yaani state assemblyman Aminolhuda Hassan and Yong Peng state assemblywoman Chew Peck Choo to conduct mass RTK antigen screenings.
Infectious disease expert Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman also highlights the severe impact of the epidemic on non-Covid patients, like delays in cancer surgery and heart disease treatment.
The World Bank’s internal estimate shows that “an open and comprehensive testing policy is positively associated both with containment and growth outcomes”.
Covid-19 cases dipped only 6.5% to an average 5,559 daily infections the week of June 13-19 from the previous week, while testing declined 10.9% to an average 80,165 people tested a day.
Kelantan -- with 4,561 official Covid-19 cases from May 23-29, the second-highest in Malaysia after Selangor’s 16,944 confirmed infections -- recorded the top positive rate at nearly 12%.
The Malaysian Medical Association says that all RT-PCR tests are processed in laboratories and that MOH guidelines oblige the person conducting laboratory processing of samples to report the result via SIMKA.