COMMENT | Many individuals and groups have voiced suggestions to manage our raging Covid-19 pandemic in Malaysia, however, few appear to have been considered. Allow me to summarise five key measures we critically need to take to help put out the Covid-19 raging fire in our nation.

1. Test extensively

Ramping up our PCR tests to 100,000 a day is insufficient. PCRs are labour intensive and results are usually delayed. If it takes 3-5 days to get a result, this limits the value of the testing. We need hundreds of thousands of RTK-Ag tests on the ground.

With a one-hour result time, they offer a rapid response and action when positive. Even if they are only 75 percent sensitive, it significantly mutes the pandemic. Equivocal results can be sent for PCR. We should keep PCRs for patients requiring admission and testing in high-risk symptomatic persons (over 60 years with major comorbid)...