Malaysia to reach test capacity of 22,000 per day soon

By Xavier Kong

Covid-19 daily update

MALAYSIA’S laboratory capacity will soon reach 22,000 tests per day. In comparison, China is doing about 30,000 tests per day considering its larger population size, Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said at his daily press conference today.

He explained that the practice of the targeted approach is due to Malaysia being under the detection threshold of 10% as set by the World Health Organisation (WHO). If the number were past 10%, it would mean that more testing needed to be done to find the cases that have not been found.

With regards to the numbers, 95 new recoveries were reported, for a total of 3,957 recoveries. There were also 40 new cases confirmed, for a total of 5,820 cases. Of the number, 1,764 are still active transmission cases in treatment, with 37 being treated in intensive care units, of which 17 are on ventilator support. Another death was reported, which brings the death toll to 99. A total of 138,898 samples have been tested.

A total of 22,339 returning Malaysians have been quarantined since April 3, with 8,207 having completed the quarantine period. A total of 144 cases were confirmed from that number.

He shared that, at this point, only about 30% of capacity is being utilised due to the falling numbers of active transmissions. Dr Noor Hisham again reiterated that the purpose of flattening the curve is to allow the healthcare system to be able to handle the numbers of patients that need to be treated

This marks an enhancement of capacity, and shows clearly why the movement control order (MCO) was necessary in the first place. The border control has also stopped imported cases from foreign nationals travelling to Malaysia during the time period, and the screening of returning Malaysians has yielded the detection of 144 cases.

There is also no shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), with procurement ongoing and a sufficient supply available.

No problem over blood donation

With regards to the matter of blood donation, Dr Noor Hisham clarified that there will be no issues at roadblocks for those who wish to go to hospital, and that the MCO had actually decreased the demand on the blood bank, citing fewer trauma cases and road accidents.

He advised students allowed to travel back to their hometowns to constantly practise new norm behaviour, which includes safe social distancing, the wearing of masks throughout the journey, as well as frequently washing hands or using hand sanitiser.

This follows the announcement that higher education students are allowed to leave their campus lodgings and head back to their hometown as part of the announcement of Phase 4 of the MCO.

Dr Noor Hisham also advised Malaysians to continue adhering to the rules of the MCO, especially in getting groceries. He called for people to not go in pairs, and to minimise time spent in public places.

“At this point, there is still no vaccine. The only vaccine is to stay at home and practise social distancing, while maintaining good personal hygiene,” he said, noting that good personal hygiene and social distancing are part of the new norm.

“This will be a long run. As long as we don’t have the vaccine, which may take a year or two, we have to take all the precautionary measures to break the chain of infection within the community,” he added.

Dr Noor Hisham also noted that despite the implementation of Enhanced MCOs, the figures remain in the double digits for the past week, and the government is looking at ways to improve this.

He shared that while door-to-door testing is conducted in locations under EMCOs to catch every possible case, there may still be some that are missed. He called for these people to step forward for testing. — April 27, 2020