PUTRAJAYA, March 9 — The Health Ministry (MoH) is now collaborating with the private medical sector to provide sample collection services from home, and have it tested for Covid-19.

This service is specifically targeted for asymptomatic individuals, to enable them to undergo the testing at home and prevent overcrowding at government health facilities.

"The public can access this service by downloading the related application to schedule the home visit appointment for sample taking. 

"However, there will be charges for this service,” he added.

The Covid-19 home screening programme is developed by Qualitas Medical Group, in collaboration with DoctorOnCall and Clinipath Malaysia Sdn Bhd.

The programme can be accessed through the DoctorOnCall Health Advisory platform, that is available on the MoH’s website.

Callers can request to speak with a Qualitas doctor for advice and screening on Covid-19, who will then assess and determine if the caller is high-risk, based on MoH’s guidelines.

Earlier in a special briefing for senior journalists and editors from various media organisations, Dr Noor Hisham said that the step is also necessary, as overcrowding in hospitals poses a higher risk of infection.

This, he said, is especially true when those who are already suspected of having Covid-19, also queue together with asymptomatic persons, or healthy individuals.

"MoH advises the public the importance of self-care, and if symptomatic to avoid from going to crowded public places. 

"These two simple measures have been proven to reduce the risk of infection through respiratory droplets in the community,” he said, adding that the said measures were also implemented in China, which have seen a reduction in infection cases.

He also advised Malaysians to postpone all overseas travel plans, particularly to areas with Covid-19 outbreaks.

"The public is also reminded not to share or disseminate unverified news or information on Covid-19. The official information on the latest development on Covid-19 can be obtained from the MoH’s website,” he added.