GEORGE TOWN (March 12): The Rapid Test Kit-Antigen (RTK-Antigen) Covid-19 for self-testing can act as a good surveillance tool for fast detection and isolation as the country moves towards transitioning into the endemic phase, said Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He said the Health Ministry would continue to use the RTK-Antigen to complement the use of RT-PCR tests in detecting infection and managing the Covid-19 pandemic, and he encouraged the public to continue using the RTK-Antigen test kits on alternate days when they were exposed to the public.

“If the virus load is low, the RTK-Antigen will not be too sensitive to it like the RT-PCR. However, a low virus load also means that infectivity is low.

“Most of the RTK-Antigen we approve are of 95% sensitivity. It is a good surveillance tool. The RT-PCR is a confirmation tool when we want to know the genomics and biomolecular of the virus.”

He said this to reporters here on Saturday after delivering a public lecture on ‘Steeling up against the Omicron storm: Is Malaysia prepared?’ at the 64th Dr Wu Lien-Teh Public Lecture, organised by Penang Institute and The Dr Wu Lien-Teh Society.

Earlier, in his lecture, Dr Noor Hisham said the current Omicron wave in Malaysia is expected to see a downward trend by the end of March, supported by the high vaccination rate and declining Rt value.

He said the vaccination rate for adults in Malaysia was 97.6% and adolescents aged 12 to 17 years at 90.1%, while the Rt value was at 1.03 as of yesterday compared with 1.04 recorded on March 10.

At the event on Saturday, The Dr Wu Lien-Teh Society president, Datuk Dr Anwar Fazal and Penang Institute executive director, Datuk Dr Ooi Kee Beng also awarded Noor Hisham with the Dr Wu Lien-Teh Award for Leadership in Public Health for his outstanding achievement in leading the public health sector through the Covid-19 pandemic.