MALAYSIA’S testing of Covid-19 infections is at an acceptable rate according to World Health Organisation standards, said Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

At least 43,406 tests have been conducted as of today, out of which 3,116 or 7.2% are positive, he said.

“According to WHO’s new yardstick there should be one case detected out of every ten tests conducted,” he said at the daily press conference on Covid-19 today.

On that note, he said Malaysia has met the WHO’s standards on testing to detect the coronavirus in the community, which states if the number of positive cases detected is low despite many tests conducted, it means there are still many undetected cases within the community.

He said the 7.2% rate is close to the 10% average set by the WHO.

Meanwhile, Noor Hisham also noted that the rapid antigen test kits from South Korea have an accuracy rate of 56.6%.

Currently, there are 43 labs conducting the tests and five more will soon be added to the list.

He said the newer labs have yet to optimise their capacity.

The ministry’s target is to increase the daily test capacity to 16,500. – April 2, 2020.