Anies Baswedan Asks Other Regions to Ramp Up COVID-19 Testing Capacity

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan hoped other regions would also increase their COVID-19 testing capacity in an effort to curb virus transmission, given the high mobility of people entering and leaving the capital.

“We are worried about this because people from all regions do their activities in Jakarta, so we hope the virus testing capacity can be increased in all regions. It is impossible for Jakarta alone to do so,” said Anies in a virtual discussion on Friday, August 21.

Anies explained if the testing capacity was increased, the figures and the data related to the pandemic conditions would be more reflective of the situation in society, albeit this might result in higher positive cases.

Anies added higher testing capacity would also mean more people could be saved as those found positive would be immediately isolated, thus preventing the virus from spreading further—particularly to the susceptible with comorbidities.

Anies Baswedan reiterated that Jakarta conducted 4,000 to 5,000 PCR tests per day, and 5,000 tests in private hospitals per day. The effort, he added, must also be accompanied by the active tracking of new cases. When a resident tested positive for COVID-19, people who had close contact with him or her must be tracked immediately, he added.

Read: Anies Baswedan Says Other Regions Can Adopt Jakarta COVID-19 Mitigation

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