VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Photo Archive. Civil servants undergo an examination to detect COVID-19 transmission before being allowed to enter the Bogor Regency Government office in Cibinong, Bogor Regency, West Java, on Monday (6/28/2021). (ANTARA FOTO/YULIUS SATRIA WIJAYA) - 

The Indonesian Health Ministry intends to boost tracing, examination, and handling of COVID-19 cases in areas with a high risk of transmission to contain the spread of the virus.

"We will increase testing and tracing three to four times from the current capacity, as has been done by several countries that have recorded an increase in cases," Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin stated as quoted in a ministry’s press release received here on Friday.

Sadikin remarked that the ministry is targeting an increase in testing, from 100 thousand per day to 400 thousand per day.

Hence, the minister has called on local governments to raise the capacity of COVID-19 inspections in their respective regions to facilitate realization of the set targets.

Sadikin expounded that tracing and examination were aimed at expediting the finding of suspected cases and people that had come in close contact with COVID-19 sufferers.

"The priority of this testing is for epidemiological purposes and not for screening testing. Hence, this testing is to really trace the suspect and his close contacts," the minister explained.

Sadikin remarked that local governments may conduct antigen examinations using rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) or conduct PCR examinations to keep track of COVID-19 transmission.

"RDT Antigen is prioritized for areas where diagnostic tools are limited, so the results can be known more quickly and tests can be conducted on a massive scale, so as to speed up tracing," he remarked.

Meanwhile, in addition to intensifying the tracing of close contacts with COVID-19 sufferers, the government will ensure that those coming in close contact with COVID-19 patients undergo quarantine until they are declared free of COVID-19 in order to prevent wider transmission of the virus//ANT