By Ling Hui
KUCHING, Feb 18: The Ministry of Health (MOH) is adopting the self-collected deep-throat saliva method for Covid-19 testing to reduce the usage of personal protective equipment (PPE).
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba assured that this method of collecting samples is safe and non-invasive compared to the nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs while increasing the efficiency of Covid-19 testing.
“MOH will begin taking Covid-19 test samples through the deep-throat saliva method to help the country in fighting the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
“This method is ‘self-collected’ and can save on the use of personal protective equipment,” he said in a press statement today.
Adding on, he said the Institute for Medical Research (IMR) has done evaluations on the sampling method and found it suitable for the real time-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests.
Dr Adham added that IMR is completing the studies and research on deep-throat saliva method for the rapid test kit antigen (RTK Ag) tests.
“Sampling using saliva for Covid-19 tests are being carried out in various countries. The method is not only cheaper but also one of the most consistent sample collection methods.
“MOH will start sampling using saliva at hospital levels and soon to be expanded to other health facilities,” he said. —DayakDaily
