Health Ministry Reacts to Video Showing Police Against COVID-19 Test

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Health Ministry’s Director of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, encouraged people presenting mild symptoms of COVID-19 to undergo a test. 

“If we develop symptoms, make sure to get tested first. People who are in close contact [with positive patients] are even tested. The important thing is that after we know we are positive, we undergo isolation,” said Nadia to Tempo, Thursday, Feb. 3.

Previously, a one-minute video showing a National Police member suggested people who are not feeling well or having flu not conduct a COVID-19 test. “If you’re not feeling well or having flu, never take a swab or rapid test [because the result] must be positive [for COVID-19],” said the policeman whose name was still unknown.

In response to the viral video, Nadia said that perhaps the person in the video conveyed such suggestions for those who are feeling unwell to take immediate rest to prevent the condition from worsening.

When asked for confirmation, the National Police’s spokesman Inspector General Dedi Prasetyo said his side would first check the video. “We’ll check it first,” he said, asking Tempo to reach the Head of the Public Information Bureau (Karopenmas) of the National Police’s Public Relations Unit.

Meanwhile, the Karopenmas head Brigadier General Ahmad Ramadhan has yet to respond to Tempo's request for confirmation.

Read: Health Expert Deems Omicron a Super Spreader Following Case Spike

MOH KHORY ALFARIZI