MALAYSIA expects to receive rapid test kits from South Korea on Friday at the earliest or next week at the latest, said Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

“We expect them to arrive earliest by Friday, maybe this weekend or next week.

“The procurement has been done but now, we are going through logistics issues and also, there is high demand, not only from Malaysia but globally,” he told his daily press conference on the country’s Covid 19 situation.

He said there is government-to-government engagement on the the procurement of the test kits, which have been found to yield faster and more accurate results in detecting the Covid-19 virus.

“We hope Wisma Putra will continue to assist us to get the test kits as soon as possible.”

Dr Noor Hisham said on April 16 that the Health Ministry is in the midst of procuring antigen test kits from South Korea.

He said the test kits, known as Standard Q-Bio Sensor, has a sensitivity of 84.4%. 

It also has 100% specificity, meaning it is designed solely to detect Covid-19. – April 22, 2020.