By Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye
The proposed Covid self-test kits (Rapid Antigen test) that will enable more people to be tested at a faster rate is to be welcomed. It will also reduce the pressure on diagnostic laboratories as well as spare people a trip to a healthcare facility.
At the same time, it is also important to take heed of the advice of experts of the importance of follow-up tests to get more accurate readings.
There is no question that the greater numbers that are tested, the faster we can hope to contain the spread of Covid-19.
The question now is this: How affordable will these kits be? If the costs are high, not many people who really need them will be able to afford them.
At these challenging times, many households are already finding it hard to afford daily necessities. And so they cannot afford to buy these kits.
And since it is in everybody’s interest to get as many people as possible tested, perhaps the government can launch a scheme to distribute these kits free to the needy, or at least subsidise the cost so that they become affordable.
As Malaysians care for each other, we must remember that this is not the time to profit from the sale of these self-test kits.
I would also like to congratulate YB Khairy Jamaluddin and his team for increasing the number of daily vaccinations in excess of 340,000. We must now aim for 400,000. That is a reasonable and achievable target.
While also on the subject of vaccinations, the public must be given an assurance that the National Vaccination Programme will proceed as planned, despite the current fluid political situation. Full vaccination is the best way to save lives and to ensure livelihood
Nothing must deter us from our efforts to return to normalcy as soon as
possible.
Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye
Chairman, Alliance for safe community
