THE Health Ministry is looking at procuring a device from China that will increase Malaysia’s Covid-19 testing capacity. 

The machine, made by the BGI Group, would boost the current capacity of daily tests by 5,000, Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said.

“We are also looking at another technique to do polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing from China, also from BGI.

“It is automated so that the process can be done faster. With that machine, we can do 5,000 tests a day in addition to what we are doing ,” Dr Noor Hisham told the daily press conference on Covid-19 today.

He said currently, 11,500 tests are being conducted on a daily basis, which the ministry aims to increase to 16,500. 

The ministry has 43 screening labs across the country and intends to add two more premises in Sandakan and Tawau. 

He said the ministry is also looking to optimise the capacity of its labs via pooled testing of five cases in one shot. 

The ministry will also receive new test kits from South Korea tomorrow, he said.

With the 179 new cases reported today, the national toll of positive cases stands at 3,662 while the number of fatalities thus far is 61. – April 5, 2020.