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PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) has asked the Ministry of Health to investigate a private laboratory that allegedly performs swab testing, a practice not recommended by the Covid-19 protocol.
MMA President Dr. Subramaniam Muniandy said the labs are not classified as private healthcare facilities and should not be allowed to provide Covid-19 screening services as it could contribute to logistical problems.
Subramaniam was responding to an earlier FMT report, where a woman named Miss Yong and her family of six had not received a call from the Ministry of Health, or the laboratory from which they obtained the test results, days after testing positive.
“According to the Ministry of Health, Covid-19 tests performed by the private sector can only be performed in a private medical clinic, an outpatient center or a private hospital.
“From the media report on Ms. Yong’s case, we can see that the proper protocol on handling a confirmed Covid-19 case was ignored,” it said in a statement.
Subramaniam said this was possibly the reason why the district health office was not aware of the family’s health status, making it difficult for an ambulance to be arranged to pick them up for further treatment.
He said it was the responsibility of the private health centers to report any positive cases to the district health office and ensure that the necessary arrangements were made to transport them to hospital or for patients to receive information from the Ministry of Health.
Subramaniam urged the Health Ministry to explain why they allowed a lab to perform the swab tests, as private health facilities must receive approval before testing for Covid-19.
“Better coordination between government hospitals and the district health office is also urgently needed as Covid-19 cases have been consistently high and may rise further,” he said.
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