TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Ministry of Health’s director-general of healthcare services, Bambang Wibowo, revealed the reason why Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests are costly as each test would cost an individual up to hundreds of thousands of rupiah.

“It is relatively expensive,” said Bambang in a hearing with the House of Representatives (DPR) health commission on Thursday, June 11.

Moreover, the high cost to run a PCR test is due to investments needed to establish laboratory facilities, the safety aspect, up to the need to have a sufficient supply of reagents that can cost up to Rp800,000 - Rp1,000,000 for each test.

The costs of undergoing PCR tests recently has been highlighted after the government used the test as a requirement for people to travel outside the city or provincial borders. However, it was recently known that the swab tests are only required for overseas flights while domestic flights are permitted to rely on rapid tests.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo had urged for a standardized cost for anyone that intends to undergo PCR tests.

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