GEORGE TOWN: Penang’s first drive-through screening service for Covid-19 is now available at the Pantai Hospital in Bayan Baru here.
The objective of the drive-thru is for individuals to reduce contact with others, making it convenient for people to get tested without having to leave their vehicles.
"This drive-thru screening service uses the Polymerase Chain Reaction technique or PCR Test, a gold standard, and has a higher sensitivity to detect Covid-19 compared to the Rapid Test.
"The PCR technique has an accuracy rate of 99 per cent, while many Rapid Tests in the market have an accuracy of less than 80 per cent, some as low as 60 per cent.
"Our labs have been prepared and verified to have met the stringent requirements set by the Health Ministry," Pantai Hospital Penang management said in a statement.
It said that the drive-thru screening service would take several minutes, and the results would be available between 48 and 72 hours, which will be emailed or couriered to the shared address during registration.
The test will cost about RM600 for each test kit.
The drive-thru screening service is available from 8:30am to 5.00pm from Mondays to Friday.
Those interested will need to answer a series of queries about their health condition before they can be subjected to the test which comes in the form of a nose swab.