KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 — Malaysians will be able to purchase the RTK-Antigen test kit from their local pharmacists or medical centres, and conduct Covid-19 home tests very soon.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba said the government is mulling providing these test kits to the masses and allow the public to administer the test using their saliva.

“We’re using the RTK-PCR, the gold standard, to test on the field. For screenings, we use the RTK-Antigen in several states who also want to do their own as well as Perkeso who use the same test.

“Due to that, we are trying to allow more people to do their own tests so we are trying to provide these RTK-Antigen kits to the public through the pharmacies, medical depot and suppliers,” he said during a press conference today.

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“The kits and suppliers must have the right specificity and sensitivity for the RTK-Antigen kit. From there, the user must use the nasopharyngeal swab method to do the test with their saliva samples.

“They can do this at home.”

Dr Adham said this is under review and awaiting approval from the authorities. The move is to allow those who feel symptomatic who cannot come to the medical centre to administer the test themselves.

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They can then be sent to the hospital or quarantine centre for further evaluation if needed. Once they have been diagnosed they will be given the home quarantine order or admitted to hospital.

Yesterday, new daily Covid-19 infections hit another record high in Malaysia, after the Ministry of Health reported 7,478 new cases in the last 24-hour period.

Another 63 deaths were also recorded in the same period, bringing the total number of fatalities in the country to 2,432 since the start of the pandemic.