GEORGE TOWN: The Covid-19 Antigen Rapid Test Kit (RTK-Ag) that has been approved by the Medical Device Authority (MDA) is a good surveillance tool to monitor and prevent the spread of Covid-19 while the country is in transition to the endemic phase.

       Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the Ministry will continue to use the antigen rapid test kit to complement Real-Time Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) in managing Covid-19 and the public are encouraged to use it as a form of self-monitoring.

       "We know most of the antigen rapid test kits that has been approved by MDA is 95% effective, but the public must get the device that has been approved and not from unreliable sources," he told reporters after receiving the Dr Wu Lien-Teh Award for Leadership in Public Health at Penang Institute on Saturday (March 12).

       Dr Noor Hisham said what has become the fear of the Ministry is when the public buys the antigen rapid test kits that have not received approval from MDA.

       Earlier, Dr Noor Hisham delivered a public lecture titled “Steeling Up Against the Omicron Storm - Is Malaysia Prepared” at Penang Institute where he spoke about the update of the Covid-19 pandemic.

       During the question-and-answer session, Dr Noor Hisham said the country is beginning to see a downward trend of Omicron and expected the wave to end by the end of March.

       "The fear now is that if new variants come in, and if it’s more virulent and more transmissible and resistant to current vaccines, it will be back to square one for us," he said.

       He, however, said the Omicron variant has responded to the country's vaccinations and with the high vaccination rate, he believed the situation is manageable.

       "We hope for the best for the future. We have enough tools to control the Omicron wave for the time being," he added.