We Have Kits to Check Coronavirus: Health Minister

Minister of Health answers reporters’ questions after attending a plenary cabinet meeting at the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java Province, Tuesday (11/2). (Photo by: Jay/ PR)

The Indonesian Government has announced that Ministry of Health’s Laboratory for Research on Infectious-Diseases (Balitbangkes) has special kits to check coronavirus.

According to Minister of Health Terawan Agus Putranto, those kits, which are from the US, are certified.

“We have the kits. Nothing is concealed,” Terawan said at the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java Province, Tuesday (11/2).

Terawan’s statement came in response to the concerns raised by a number of medical researchers that coronavirus cases may have gone undetected in Indonesia due to a potential lack of vigilance.

The Minister has previously stated that coronavirus cases have not yet found in the country and the suspicion, he said, is non-existent and groundless.

“We are still taking concrete measures to anticipate the spread of coronavirus in the country and we will adhere to the standards,” Terawan said, while allowing journalists to inspect the kits firsthand.

The Minister also dismissed allegation that as many as 21 Indonesian citizens arrived home on Monday (11/2) (from China), given that the Indonesian Government has imposed a ban on all flights to and from mainland China on Feb. 5 amid fears of the novel coronavirus spreading to the country.

“Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in constant coordination with Ministry of Health regarding this issue,” Terawan said, adding that biosafety level 3 laboratories can also be seen by journalists.

Update: Coronavirus has killed over 1,000, with more than 42,000 confirmed cases in China and 319 cases in 24 other countries. Many of the cases outside China have been in people who have a history of travelling to the country. (FID/EN)

Translated by: Muhardi

Reviewed by: M. Ersan Pamungkas