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Pantai Hospital Ayer Keroh offers first Covid-19 drive-through screening services in Melaka

MELAKA: Pantai Hospital Ayer Keroh is now offering Covid-19 drive-through screening services for Covid-19 testing at its premises.

To date, the hospital has screened more than 170 people since the drive-through service started in the beginning of April.

The hospital's Chief of Executive Officer Tan Yew Aik said that the drive-through service was introduced to make the Covid-19 test more convenient and easily available to the community.

“Malaysia has over 4,000 cases today and the numbers keep rising. People are worried, and we would like to offer them peace of mind by making the early detection method more accessible through our latest service, the Covid-19 Drive-Through Screening Services,” he said in a statement today.

The whole process of the drive-through service is simple and will take about 10 minutes. The drive-through is divided into two stations.

The first station is set aside for registration confirmation while the second station is dedicated for the Covid-19 test.

“Individuals will remain in their vehicle while our medical staff collect oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal swabs from them. Once their sample has been collected, we will inform them of the results within 48-72 hours,” explained Tan.

He said the drive through test uses the Polymerease Chain Reaction (PCR) technique which has a higher sensitivity to detect Covid-19 compared to the Rapid Test sold in the market now.

The PCR technique is able to detect the E gene, RdRp gene and N gene simultaneously. It has an accuracy rate of 99 per cent, whereas many Rapid Tests in the market has an accuracy of less than 80 per cent, some as low as 60 per cent, he said.

“Our labs have also been prepared and verified to have met the stringent requirements set by Health Ministry (MoH). We are proud to say that to-date, we are one of the very few in the country that meets their standard,” he said.

Tan also said that the hospital does not accept walk-in individuals and interested individuals will have to schedule a pre-appointment before they come.

The drive-through service operates from 9 am to 12 noon from Monday to Friday.

Those who wish to get tested can contact or WhatsApp +6016-301 2999 for enquiries or pre-appointments.

Besides the newly introduced drive-through service, Pantai Hospital Ayer Keroh has been offering the Covid-19 On-Site Screening Services since early March.

The hospital provides COVID-19 swab testing and sample collection for companies at their own premises.

For more information, visit www.pantai.com.my/COVID-19-On-Site-Screening-Services or contact kindly contact the COVID-19 On-Site Screening Services Hotline Call Centre Hotline at +603-4280 9115.

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