Gov’t Committed to Increasing COVID-19 Testing Capacity

Minister of Health Budi Sadikin.

The Government continues to renew its commitment to focus on increasing the daily number of COVID-19 tests in efforts to curb virus transmission during the enforcement of stricter public activity restrictions (PPKM), according to Minister of Health Budi Sadikin.

“The number of tests will lead to a decisive result. We’ve been performing more random close contact tracing and testing in the islands of Java and Bali and outside Bali,” the Minister said in a virtual press statement on the Evaluation and Implementation of PPKM, Monday (2/8).

The Government has performed more than 200 thousand tests with an examination capacity of 300 specimens, higher than that of in the previous examination at around 60-70 thousand tests, he added.

Budi revealed that the total number of active coronavirus cases has been declining despite the increasing tracing efforts followed by a declining trend in cases in Java and Bali.

Budi also asserted that the Government will stay vigilant against the potential increase in active cases outside Java and Bali.

“There has been a decline in active cases in Java and Bali, yet we must remain vigilant as the virus response remains unclear. Our population number is indeed smaller outside Java and Bali, so the national aggregate number will continue to decline, but the complexity will be greater because of different islands,” he said, adding that the pandemic handling policy would also be implemented in other areas in the country.

“We will also concentrate on replicating necessary measures taken in Java and Bali to be implemented in areas outside Java and Bali,” he said.

On that occasion, the Minister also pointed out the Government’s efforts in speeding up the national vaccination drive to achieve herd immunity against COVID-19.

Budi further said that Indonesia will receive more than 300 million doses of vaccine from August to December. To date, the number of vaccines arrived in the country has reached 20 percent of the vaccine demand.

“The largest number of vaccines at around 70 million doses will arrive in August and September,” he said.

Budi also asserted that the Government will continue to speed up the implementation of risk-based vaccinations, which aims to quickly reduce the rate of transmission and death due to COVID-19.

“We will focus on areas with the highest number of cases and the highest deaths, particularly in agglomeration areas in Java and Bali. Those areas include Greater Jakarta (Jabodetabek), Greater Bandung, Greater Semarang, Greater Solo, Yogyakarta, Greater Surabaya, Greater Malang, and Bali,” he added.

The Minister also urged all components of society to make this national vaccination drive a success.

“We hope that all of us can continue to join hands, including the Indonesian National Defense Forces (TNI), the National Police (Polri), regional leaders, all civil society, and community organizations. The most important thing is that we can immediately vaccinate all of the public as directed by the President, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, and Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs. I’m sure we can make it together,” he remarked. (PR of Cabinet Secretariat/MAY/UN) (RIF/MUR)