Indonesia's COVID-19 Testing Four Times above WHO Standard: Health Minister
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20 September 2021 21:10 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin claimed Monday that the country’s COVID-19 testing rate had reached 1.1 million per week, which he highlighted was “nearly four times higher than the WHO standard” in a press conference today.
The minister explained the WHO recommends one per 1,000 every week, meaning the required testing standard is 270 thousand people a day for a positivity rate below five percent. He claimed the positivity rate had dropped below three percent.
"We hope that we can maintain the testing and tracing so we can quickly identify if there are others who are infected," he said.
Despite the claimed testing increase, he said many were still afraid of being tested. He then cited a survey result by the Health Ministry, which shows only 50 percent of traced people have been tested. He believed this was mainly caused by the fear of being found to be ill once they get tested.
“It will be better if it is discovered, don’t worry about it. Eighty percent of patients transmitting this virus do not need hospitalization, while 80-90 percent of those hospitalized will eventually recover,” Budi Gunadi Sadikin said.
Read: Indonesia's COVID-19 Cases Have Dropped Sharply, Says Health Minister
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