TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The East Java Province on Tuesday received additional COVID-19 aid from the central government taking the form of an Autonomous UV-C Mobile Robot (AUMR) along with thousands of PCR test kits.

The national COVID-19 task force leader Doni Monardo on Tuesday said that the remote-controlled AUMR, which works as a sterilization robot, will help sterilize one of the laboratories in the province that had reportedly been contaminated.

“This robot is donated by the Presidential Chief of Staff and the Telkom Foundation,” he said on June 2. “The robot will hopefully be able to assist [on sterilization efforts].”

According to officials, 75 percent of components that make the AUMR are locally-produced and that there are already four of these remotely-operated robots which are able to sterilize contaminated areas via ultraviolet devices attached to it.

“The ultraviolet light radiated from these robots will kill the viruses,” said one of the AUMR robot operators, Tama.

The AUMR greatly reduces the risk of infecting human operators upon sterilizing an area. Four units are now stationed at Jakarta’s Wisma Atlet emergency hospital, the Bandung Hasan Sadikin Hospital, the Pindad Bandung hospital, and in Surabaya.

Among other forms of test kits, the Health Ministry has also provided East Java with additional PCR kits that consist of 30,000 Real-Time Multiplex RT-PCR 25 kits and 31,000 viral RNA isolation kits. This assistance is hoped to help the province in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

ANTARA