Indonesia to Administer 410,000 Covid-19 Tests Nationwide

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian government announced it will increase its Covid-19 testing, tracing, and treatment capacity amidst the enforcement of the emergency PPKM. The government plans to conduct 410,000 nationwide testings in a country populated by more than 270 million people. 

Besides the testings; either rapid or PCR, the comprehensive treatments based on the severity of a patient’s Covid-19 symptom must also be done. Those with medium and severe symptoms, as well as critical patienst, will be admitted to the hospitals, while those who have mild symptoms must stay at home and conduct self-isolation.

The capital city of Jakarta targets to increase its daily testing capacity to 120,000. The next province is West Java (100,000), Central Java (80,000), East Java (70,000), Banten (25,000), Yogyakarta (10,000), and Bali with the least at 5,000 daily tests. 

In total, the Health Ministry hopes to test 410,000 samples on a daily basis and increase the mass vaccinations to hopefully suppress the spread of coronavirus. Jakarta, according to Governor Anies Baswedan, is currently able to conduct a daily average 130,000 vaccinations. 

As of June 30, Indonesia tested 142,731 specimens nationwide and will need to be increased exponentially to reach a positivity rate of below 5 percent. 

Read: Emergency PPKM Enforcement; Jokowi Asks Public to Remain Calm and Vigilant

MEGA SAFITRI