GEORGE TOWN, May 16 — The Penang government has requested the federal government to immediately approve the RT-PCR COVID-19 screening test, which uses saliva samples, for manufacturing sector workers in the state.
Chief Minister, Chow Kon Yeow, said that the implementation of the RT-PCR test, through the deep throat saliva (DTS) method, was for mass screening among manufacturing sector workers in the state.
“The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM), Penang branch, submitted the proposal to the Ministry of Health (MOH) on May 7.
“It is appropriate that it be approved because the relevant method was also proposed by the Health director-general, at the special session of the National Security Council on COVID-19 management, chaired by the Prime Minister on May 10,” he said in a statement today.
Chow said that, based on the current trend of cases recorded in Penang, it was also appropriate for the sourcing of human resources from the private sector or other related fields to be intensified, especially in speeding up the tracking of contacts and cases in the field.
“Apart from immediately isolating COVID-19 positive patients, the Penang Health Department also needs to take drastic action by providing necessary training to those selected, so that the capacity of existing medical facilities is not completely paralysed,” he said.
Penang also recorded a drop in new COVID-19 cases today, at 187, compared with 338 cases reported yesterday.
