COVID-19 Has Ramped Up In Kudus, Hospitals Still Serve Antigens But There Is No Demand

JAKARTA - Several hospitals in Kudus, Central Java, are still opening an antigen rapid test service to ensure the transmission of the Coronavirus to residents.

"Until now, we are still opening an antigen rapid test service, even though there is no demand at the moment", said Director of the Islamic Hospital Sunan Kudus Ahmad Syaifuddin in Kudus, Wednesday, May 25, as reported by Antara.

If previously it could serve 100 people a day, he said, for now, there is rarely a request for the rapid antigen test service.

For this reason, the antigen test is directed at screening patients who want to be hospitalized in a hospital.

"The cost of the rapid antigen test itself is quite affordable, around IDR 90,000, while the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) swab test is directed to Loekmono Hadi Hospital, which has the equipment", he said.

The Director of the Mardi Rahayu Hospital Kudus, Pujianto, also admitted that he was still opening an antigen rapid test service until now, even though the current Corona cases tended to decrease.

For now, he said, the demand for rapid antigen tests is indeed decreasing, whereas in a day only one or two people.

Nevertheless, he added, the Mardi Rahayu Kudus Hospital still provides these services.

The Regent of Kudus Hartopo admitted that both antigen and PCR tests were still applied to conduct contact tracing and screening when cases were found.

"Including, when there are residents who have just returned from abroad from areas where there are many Corona cases, they are also asked to continue to carry out antigen tests or PCR, as a measure to anticipate the transmission of the Coronavirus", he said.