ISKANDAR PUTERI, June 8 — The Johor state government has no plans to carry out mass rapid testing for Covid-19 in the state despite calls to do so, but will instead increase its use in a targeted manner, said Datuk Hasni Mohammad.
At present, the Johor mentri besar said the newly acquired Antigen Rapid Test Kits (RTK-Ag) will be used as a focused solution to reduce the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in the state.
“The state government will instead be focusing on specific testing in districts around Johor, especially around Johor Baru soon.
“We will be doing targeted testing in Johor Baru because the number of new positive Covid-19 cases is not showing any signs of decreasing in certain areas,” said Hasni after he jointly chaired the state’s Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) meeting with Coordinating Minister of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme Khairy Jamaluddin in Kota Iskandar here today.
Khairy is also the science, technology and innovation minister.
The Johor state government, through the Sultan Ibrahim Foundation, has recently received 20,000 RTK-Ag test kits from Singapore that will be used in the targeted testing.
Hasni said that the state government was in the midst of acquiring more RTK-Ag test kits to make the targeted testing initiative a success.
He said the Johor government’s objective in applying to use the targeted testing method was not just to identify those who were Covid-19 positive, but was also to create awareness of public health measures.
Hasni, who is also the Benut assemblyman, said creating awareness among the people on the importance of following the standard operating procedures (SOP) imposed by the government was just as important.
He pointed out that there were still several sectors that have been allowed to operate that seemed to have low adherence to the set SOPs.
“The efforts in battling the Covid-19 pandemic are not only through vaccination, but it also needs cooperation from all quarters of society to make it an overall success,” said Hasni.
