Preparing To Enter The Endemic Phase, Malaysia Considers Its Citizens Mandatory For COVID-19 Self-Tests

Illustration of a COVID-19 test kit. (Wikimedia Commons/dronepicr)

JAKARTA - Malaysia's new Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said he was considering a national testing policy, requiring people to self-test for COVID-19 when Malaysia enters an endemic phase.

"Once we get into (the endemic phase), whether you've been vaccinated or not, you need to test yourself regularly", he told a news conference, citing CNA Thursday, September 2.

"That's why we want to make testing more affordable and more accessible".

Furthermore, the former Minister of Youth and Sports, as well as the Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation of Malaysia, said that this policy was one option if the government did not oblige the COVID-19 vaccination by law.

Those who refuse to be vaccinated must adhere to a specific testing schedule and regime, which includes rapid antigen testing and polymerase chain reaction tests or PCR tests.

"We will issue a national testing policy to take into account those who refuse to be vaccinated. However, the outcome I prefer is if you don't have a medical reason, any reason not to be vaccinated, go and get vaccinated", Khairy said.

"I'm not yet at the stage where I'm going to recommend to Cabinet a federal mandate, but I'm not far from it either", he said

On the occasion, Minister Khairy also revealed that the cabinet had agreed to set the ceiling amount for the rapid test kit and it would be announced by the Minister of Home Affairs.

He added that Malaysia may enter the endemic phase of COVID-19 at the end of October when 80 percent of the country's population has been vaccinated.

"By the end of October we will reach an endemic threshold point where we have to start looking at living with the virus", he said.

For information, to date, Malaysia has recorded a total of 1.765.016 cases of infection with 16.942 deaths, and 1.482.800 patients have recovered since the pandemic, according to Worldometers data.