TEMPO.CO, Badung, Bali - State-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura I disclosed that the authority of Ngurah Rai International Airport in the resort island of Bali has imposed a newly-standardized price cap for individually-requested PCR tests at Rp495,000.

The price cap for these real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests has been made effective since August 19, 2021, PT AP I General Manager at Ngurah Rai International Airport Herry A.Y. Sikado said.

Ngurah Rai International Airport which is located in Badung District or about 13 km away from Denpasar, the capital of Bali Province, is one of 13 airports managed by AP I in central and eastern parts of Indonesia.

The airport authority imposes this newly-standardized price ceiling for the RT-PCR tests to follow up on the Health Ministry's circular No.02.02/I/2845/2021 dated on August 16, 2021, he said on Saturday.

The price ceiling is expected to help minimize air passengers' expenses, and have a positive impact on the air transport services, he said.

The RT-PCR tests are served to travelers at the domestic arrival terminal's public area as a result of the airport authority's collaboration with the Bali Jimbaran Public Hospital, he said.

The airport's COVID-19 testing booth also serves those in need of rapid antigen tests by paying Rp200,000. Both the PCR and antigen test results have been integrated into the Health Ministry's PeduliLindungi App.

Sikado urges travelers wanting to take the COVID-19 swab and antigen tests to consider their flight schedules, he added.

President Joko Widodo had recently requested that the ceiling for individually-requested PCR tests be set at between Rp450,000 and Rp550,000.

He had also asked that the results of swab tests be issued within 24 hours of testing.

The government's price cap for individually-requested PCR tests was earlier set at Rp900,000.

Following the President's request, the Health Ministry issued Circular Letter No.HK.02.02/I/2845/2021 on the new RT-PCR test price ceiling on August 16, 2021.

The ministry's circular has capped the price for individually-requested RT-PCR tests at Rp495,000 in Java and Bali and Rp525,000 in regions outside the two islands.

ANTARA had earlier reported that the government had set the price cap for individually-requested PCR tests at Rp900,000, and rapid antigen tests at Rp250,000 for the island of Java and Rp275,000 for areas outside Java.

Coronavirus infections initially emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019, and then spread to various parts of the world, including to countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Indonesian government announced the country's first confirmed cases on March 2, 2020.

Since then, the central and regional governments have made persistent efforts to flatten the coronavirus curve by imposing healthcare protocols as well as social and travel restrictions.

Read: Health Ministry DG Denies Conflict of Interest in PCR Test Prices

ANTARA