BUKIT Gasing assemblyman Rajiv Rishyakaran announced that participating private clinics will temporarily suspend the reduced cost Covid-19 screenings due to overwhelming response from the public.

He said that the large crowds gathering at clinics has got people in the vicinity worried.

“With great sadness, our three partner clinics have to suspend the RM70 Covid-19 testing at their premises due to overwhelmingly large crowds of people gathering to get tested.

“This has caused great anxiety to everyone in the vicinity,” he said in a Facebook post today.

Rajiv was providing subsidies to the B40 people in Bukit Gasing, offering them the service for only RM30, while he would top up the remaining RM40.

Rajiv initiated this two months ago and gets about 100 people a day to do the RTK-AG test.

Currently, the cost to undergo a Covid-19 test in a private facility is between RM150 and RM180.

The clinics conducting the Covid-19 tests in Rajiv’s programme are all certified by the Health Ministry.

Walk-ins are allowed, but in order to allow more people to participate, Rajiv created a 24-hour hotline.

The DAP rep said it is unfortunate that the ministry refuses to make Covid-19 testing affordable and accessible nationally for all.

Without announcing the duration of the suspension, the two-term assemblyman said he is working with the partnering clinics to ensure safe testing for large crowds is conducted.

“We are working with our partners to bring back this testing in a way that can handle bigger crowds, so that you can access the test in a safer environment.

“We’ll be back soon,” he said. – January 15, 2021.