KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 ― There is ample supply of self-test kits in the market and the public should refrain from panic buying and hoarding the Covid-19 self-test kits, said the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) today .

Its president, Dr Koh Kar Chai, said there is no need to do the self-test on daily, unless it is indicated due to the nature of a person’s work.

"Healthcare professionals do not even test themselves on a daily basis unless it is clearly needed to do so in certain high-risk situations.

"Circumstances needing self-testing will be when attending functions involving groups of people, visiting elderly or immuno compromised individuals, after coming into close contact with infected individuals or when exhibiting symptoms,” he said.

He said due to the high transmissibility of the Omicron variant, the number of positive cases will be high till  it reaches the peak and expressed the need for the public to maintain the prescribed standard operating procedures (SOPs) at all times.

Though the accuracy of the self-test kit may not be comparable to the professionals' Antigen Rapid Test Kit (RTK Ag) and Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT PCR) test, he said, the self-test kits are useful in picking up symptomatic cases. ― Bernama