Don't let price compromise your health

The recent surge of the omicron variant of Covid-19 should be a cause of concern for everybody. Although we have the Health Ministry trying to play it down by releasing daily statistics showing that the severity is low - about 99.5 percent of reported cases are categorised in Categories 1 and 2, meaning either asymptomatic or very mild - we have the virus ripping through the community almost unchecked.

It is left to the people to check ourselves whether we are infected or not, because that's the new standard operating procedure for life to return to almost near normal. Employers are now requiring their employees to test themselves maybe once a week or once a fortnight to detect infections and take the necessary action.

But how reliable are the test kits? What we see in the market - the pharmacies especially, but also being sold online on Lazada and Shopee - are the rapid antigen test kits of varying quality and prices. I don't know who are manufacturing most of them except that a big majority of the test kits come from China. It is not that I am doubting their effectiveness but when it comes to health, I do not wholly trust products that are manufactured in that country. Surgical masks is one of them. Rapid antigen test kits is another.

I have encountered test kits of different makes that give different results when used at the same time. One test kit showing a negative result and another showing positive. So which is correct: the one showing negative but which could be a false positive or the one showing positive but which could be a false negative? Both, I'm told, were bought online and made in China. The prices vary. I've seen prices going as low as RM4.90 per test kit but the other day, I saw someone offering to sell one for RM3.40. Would you dare go for it?

My son had a scare a few days ago. The Made-in-China test kit he used showed a probable positive infection. Immediately, he went to get a PCR test at a clinic which cost him RM200. And the next day, the results came back negative! Of course, it was a relief to him but he was poorer by RM200. Not to imagine too the stress of 24 hours wondering whether or not he had Covid-19. Now, if he had used a known and reliable test kit to begin with, he wouldn't have to be stressed and his pockets wouldn't be lighter by RM200.

I know it can be difficult to be certain which test kit is reliable or not in this pandemic environment but I would generally use my rule of thumb that a good test kit is one whose price is steady and little affected by market pressure or abnormalities. If you find a test kit sold cheaply, you should be wary and investigate further. Who knows, the importer may just be trying to flood the market with it. Thin margins but huge profits.