Covid-19 test kits flying off the shelves in Johor Baru

JOHOR BARU: Pharmacies here are seeing rising demand for Covid-19 test kits.

Checks at several pharmacies in Johor Baru found that there was limited stock for the test kits, with some seeing empty shelves for the past few days.

Pharmacy health adviser Nur Hayati Muhammad, 35, said they ran out of test kits just hours after restocking.

“We ran out of the test kits for about one week before receiving new stock on Thursday morning.

“The test kits did not even last one day as customers came looking for them. We expect to get more kits next week,” she said.

Nur Hayati said demand for test kits has been increasing over the past few weeks as there are now growing concerns about Covid-19.

“We also have customers who just returned from holidays elsewhere and those working in Singapore looking for test kits,” she said.

Pharmacist G. Navin Shankar, 32, said one of the reasons for the shortage of test kits is because many shops had been reducing the number of test kits they order.

“Previously, there was very low demand for test kits and many of them ended up not being sold, with some even reaching their expiration date.

“To avoid this, some pharmacies have been reducing the number of test kits they order.

“However, there is now a sudden increase in demand for the test kits, and suppliers are receiving more orders from many places at the same time,” he said.

A pharmacist, who only wanted to be known as Lim, said the pharmacy she works at has also received new stock of test kits after running out a few days ago.

“The increase in demand was rather sudden and we started noticing it just a few days ago.”

State health and unity committee chairman Ling Tian Soon said, however, that there is enough supply of test kits in government medical facilities.

“So far, we have not received official complaints about the lack of test kits at any of our facilities.

“I believe the shortage at several pharmacies was due to the business decision to buy fewer test kits due to the low demand previously,” he said.

Ling said there had been no significant rise in the number of Covid-19 cases in Johor, with only 41 reported throughout last week.