Indonesia Asks WHO for a Covid-19 Rapid Antigen Test Kit

Jakarta, MINA – Indonesian government asks the World Health Organization (WHO) to consider Indonesia as a priority country to receive the Covid-19 rapid antigen test kit.

WHO has provided 120 million Covid-19 rapid antigen tests for 133 low and middle income countries that have large numbers of cases.

The test kits will be available at a lower price of around USD 5 (Rp.74,295) per unit.

“We beg to consider getting help from WHO for this rapid test. So that we can detect cases of Covid-19 in the midst of society more quickly,” said Wiku Adisasmito, spokesman for the Covid-19 Task Force on Thursday.

The antigen rapid test has higher accuracy than the antibody rapid test currently used by Indonesia to scan Covid-19 cases in Indonesia.

The antigen test only takes a few minutes to get the results without having to use a laboratory.

However, the antigen test still requires further confirmation through the PCR swab method.

According to Wiku, Indonesia has also received a WHO recommendation to hold a Covid-19 rapid test with good quality. The government is also reviewing plans to use this antigen test.

“Because this detects antigens, of course it will be better than detecting antibodies in the context of initial tests or screening before real time PCR diagnoses are carried out,” he said. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)