GEORGE TOWN: Penang has introduced a Covid-19 initiative which will only cost a person about RM60 to be screened. However, they must first form groups of 200.
State executive councillor Jagdeep Singh Deo said that in the group of 200, pools of five people would be tested at any one point through an RT-PCR test. They will get their results the next day.
He said once a person in a five-person pool tests positive, all five will be retested. All positive cases will be referred to government hospitals for treatment.
According to the US’ Food and Drug Administration, a pooled Covid-19 sampling allows more people to be tested using a single reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test.
Jagdeep said this pooled testing system is being used in India, Singapore and Australia, promising a quicker turnaround time and reducing the load on government hospitals and clinics.
He said this would be carried out under the “SAFE” initiative so more could be screened and those infected can be isolated and treated.
“The main objective of this programme is to allow Penangites to get tested for Covid-19 in an affordable, accessible and quick manner, through an RT-PCR test,” he told reporters at Komtar today.
Jagdeep said the SAFE initiative was mooted in cooperation with the Penang branch of the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) and clinical research centre Info Kinetics Sdn Bhd.
Penang FMM chief Jimmy Ong said the SAFE plan was perfect for mass screening of factory workers to meet government requirements.
Those interested can visit penangsafe.com or WhatsApp 017-22-2818.