THE Health Ministry is stepping up its testing capabilities by being able to conduct 16,000 Covid-19 tests a day in April, said Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

“As of now we can conduct 3,500 tests (a day) and we expect to increase to 7,000 tests next week. We are expecting to carry out 16,000 tests a day in April,” the Health Ministry director-general told reporters in Putrajaya today.

Currently, there are 18 laboratories under the Health Ministry and five in the private sector which carry out tests to detect the deadly virus.

Noor Hisham said the Institute for Medical Research will also rope in universities and military hospitals to be a part of this.

Malaysia’s total number of infections now stand at 1,306, an increase of 123 positive cases from yesterday, with 10 fatalities.

Worldwide, at least 300,097 infections have been confirmed in 169 countries and territories, with 12,895 deaths reported, according to data collected from national authorities and the World Health Organisation. – March 22, 2020.