Public, aware of Omicron risks, want affordable pricing for gold standard test

PETALING JAYA: The surge in Covid-19 cases fuelled by the highly transmissible Omicron variant is seeing antigen rapid test kits (RTK) flying off pharmacy and supermarket shelves with shortages hitting some states during the festive holidays earlier this month.

The public, however, is calling for pricing of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests to be lowered as there have been cases whereby persons testing negative using self-test RTK were later confirmed positive after PCR lab tests were carried out, thus creating doubts toward the home kit’s accuracy.