{"id":10522,"date":"2021-08-03T17:45:26","date_gmt":"2021-08-03T09:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/?p=10522"},"modified":"2021-08-03T17:45:28","modified_gmt":"2021-08-03T09:45:28","slug":"proper-guidance-needed-for-covid-19-self-test-kit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/?p=10522","title":{"rendered":"Proper guidance needed for COVID-19 self-test kit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 3 \u2013 Anyone getting the COVID-19 rapid self-test kit should be guided in its use by a medical practitioner to obtain reliable results, said International Medical University (IMU) Institute for Research, Development & Innovation (IRDI) deputy director, Prof Dr Azizi Ayob.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that although the kit would come with instructions, the right technique should be sought from an expert to avoid a false-negative or false-positive result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s because the possibility of making a mistake in any test is high, namely when collecting a saliva sample, doing the test and interpreting the results. So to reduce the chance of error, guidance is necessary,\u201d he told Bernama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also urged the Ministry of Health (MOH) to raise awareness about using the kit correctly to ensure an accurate reading and that safety procedures are followed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that even though it is a self assessment, people must practise safety and hygiene to avoid exposing others to the deadly virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"self-test\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

He said the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) like in hospitals and clinics is not compulsory, but the kit user must make sure they don\u2019t cause infections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis includes minimising exposure by self-testing in a special room, wearing gloves, using a hand sanitiser and safely disposing of the kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSince testing is being done at home, the practical way of disposing is to use two plastic trash bags per person which have been securely tied,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prof Azizi said currently there are no specific disposal guidelines like those at laboratories and health facilities for clinical waste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also said that the public must be highly self-disciplined, especially after testing positive for COVID-19, by keeping the relevant authorities notified, doing a contact confirmation and isolating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The president of a Muslim medical and healthcare practitioners\u2019 group called I-Medik also appealed to the public to inform a district health office, clinic or hospital if their symptoms worsen so that they can get immediate care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Hospital Kasih Cyberjaya occupational and general health specialist, Dr Hanafiah Bashirun, recommended the MOH do a video on how to use the test kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He believes the kit will reduce the testing burden on hospitals, clinics and COVID-19 assessment centres (CACs) which have to process hundreds of thousands of samples every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also said that the sale of the kits online should be regulated to ensure only MOH-licenced products are sold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis will ensure that people don\u2019t exploit the situation to make big bucks when demand is high,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— BERNAMA<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 3 \u2013 Anyone getting the COVID-19 rapid self-test kit should be guided…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[524],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nation"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Screen-Shot-2021-08-03-at-17.43.35.png",594,363,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Screen-Shot-2021-08-03-at-17.43.35-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Screen-Shot-2021-08-03-at-17.43.35-300x183.png",300,183,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Screen-Shot-2021-08-03-at-17.43.35.png",594,363,false],"large":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Screen-Shot-2021-08-03-at-17.43.35.png",594,363,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Screen-Shot-2021-08-03-at-17.43.35.png",594,363,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Screen-Shot-2021-08-03-at-17.43.35.png",594,363,false],"newsium-slider-full":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Screen-Shot-2021-08-03-at-17.43.35.png",594,363,false],"newsium-featured":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Screen-Shot-2021-08-03-at-17.43.35.png",594,363,false],"newsium-medium":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Screen-Shot-2021-08-03-at-17.43.35.png",594,363,false]},"author_info":{"info":["Editor"]},"category_info":"Nation<\/a>","tag_info":"Nation","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10522"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10522\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10524,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10522\/revisions\/10524"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}