WHO has procured, delivered and distributed vital COVID-19 test kits to the Indonesian Ministry of Health to support the country’s response to COVID-19.
The delivery in late June included 2 178 real-time fluorescent RT-PCR (polymerase chain reaction test) kits, 126 nucleic acid extraction kits and 1 815 disposable sampling kits, capable of conducting around 108 900 tests, were passed to the National Institute of Health and Research Development (NIHRD), and will now be distributed to laboratories across the country that are part of the national COVID-19 lab network.
The test kits, estimated to be worth almost US$1.5 million (Rp. 21 851 424 000), were made possible through the support of the Government of Japan.
Since COVID-19 patients were identified in March, WHO has supplied Indonesia with an additional 520 kits (providing 52 000 reactions), as well as 235 primers and probes (23 500 reactions). Personal protective equipment – including 200 gloves, 1 000 gowns, 500 protective goggles and 640 masks – were also delivered in March.A delivery of 1 000 viral transport media (VTM), which enable the safe transfer of virus samples for further testing and research, is expected to arrive by the end of July.