PUTRAJAYA, March 22 — The Health Ministry expects to be able to carry out 16,000 Covid-19 screenings a day by April compared to just 3,500 now.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said that tests are currently being conducted by 18 Health Ministry and five private laboratories.

"The Institute for Medical Research will train several other laboratories, including in military and university hospitals, to enhance Malaysia’s ability to conduct Covid-19 detection tests,” he said at the Covid-19 daily press conference today.

Meanwhile, he said the ministry will deploy more nurses in states with a very high number of Covid-19 patients like at the Sungai Buloh Hospital in Selangor as well as recall retired specialist doctors and nurses.

Other than that, the ministry is also cooperating with private hospitals to jointly tackle the health problem. — Bernama