Warning that false negatives can lead to further spread of Covid-19 in the community, MMA president Dr Subramaniam Muniandy stressed that the quality of RTK-Antigen kits are paramount for practitioners to identify positive cases.

Subramaniam also said practitioners are concerned about the efficacy of the RTK-Antigen test kits in detecting newer Covid-19 variants, especially in light of reports of such variants in the country.

“There are about 17 RTK-Antigen test kits that have been approved by the Medical Device Authority (MDA), but not all are of acceptable quality,” he said in a statement today.

“Practitioners are concerned that with many kits available now, are regular audits being carried out once the kits are approved and released into the market?

“We urge the health ministry, via MDA, to immediately conduct an audit followed by regular audits on all RTK-Antigen test kits now available in the market.”

Subramaniam also called for an online platform for practitioners to voice complaints about issues encountered when using the test kits.

Under SOPs for Covid-19 testing, those who receive a positive test result via RTK-Antigen screening will require a RT-PCR test to confirm.

Subramaniam also said that RTK-Antigen screenings nonetheless have an important role to play as they are a “fast and effective” method of detecting Covid-19 infections.

“The quicker the infection is detected, the quicker we can isolate the positive case and prevent further spread of Covid-19,” he pointed out.

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