Health Ministry director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican said there were six more deaths reported over the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 38.
He said the number of new cases recorded was also at an all-time high of 270, bringing the total number of cases in Malaysia to 2,253.
As the death toll from Influenza A (H1N1) rose to 38, the Government green-lighted the use of rapid test kits for private clinics and hospitals to conduct flu checks on the public.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said private healthcare providers can use these kits to help cope with the large number of patients wanting to be checked, and for faster detection and containment of the pandemic.
“Use of rapid test kits was discouraged in the private sector earlier when the H1N1 outbreak was still small and mostly imported.
“Now that it has reached the community level, it’s important to detect it fast and treat it quickly,” he said after checking Serdang Hospital’s service centre for patients with flu-like symptoms.
He said the Government-approved rapid test kits could diagnose patients in15 minutes and were about 70%-90% accurate.
He said that patients in high-risk categories such as those with respiratory disorders can be admitted for treatment without waiting for the results.
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