GeNose Used At The Airport Starting April 1st, Luhut: The Quality Should Be Improved

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan while testing the GeNose COVID-19 test kit. (Photo: Doc. PT KAI)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Transportation is preparing the application of a COVID-19 detection tool, namely GeNose C19, in sea and air transportation after previously being carried out in land transportation, especially trains.

"On the train, the public interest in using GeNose is very good and currently stakeholders in the sea and air transportation sector also want to use GeNose. For this reason, we report to the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment as well as the Coordinating Minister for Human and Cultural Development about the plan, and Of course we will do it carefully, "said Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi in a written statement quoted from Antara, Wednesday, February 24.

To prepare for it, the Minister of Transportation held a meeting with the Minister of Communication and Information, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan and the Coordinating Minister for PMK Muhadjir Effendy along with UGM staff and researchers.

The Minister of Transportation said, the application of GeNose at transportation nodes is needed so that people get access to more affordable COVID-19 detection tools, so that they can reduce the potential for transmission when using public transportation.

It is planned that the use of the GeNose detection tool will also be implemented at the Tanjung Priok port at the end of this week at random (random). Meanwhile, in the air sector, it will be implemented on April 1, 2021 because there are several things that need to be discussed further technically.

The Minister of Transportation explained that the implementation of inspection through GeNose in the railroad sector could be a good lesson for stakeholders in the sea and air transportation sector. He asked the Director General of Air and Sea Transportation to prepare the mechanism and SOP, adjusting it to the existing regulations in the two sectors.

Coordinating Minister for PMK Muhadjir Effendy said that he strongly supports the presence of GeNose as an alternative to the COVID-19 detection tool used in transportation nodes, because GeNose is a domestic product and has advantages such as easier and safer use, the level of accuracy is quite high.

"Hopefully in the future it can be mass produced and can continue to be developed so that the level of accuracy will increase. We will continue to increase the use of GeNose for the benefit of public services. Not only for travel, but can also be used in other places that are in dire need," said Muhadjir. .

Menkomarves Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said that he fully supports the application of GeNose because it is the work of the nation's children, has been tested, and has a distribution permit from the Ministry of Health. The Menkomarves also approved the plan to implement GeNose as an alternative means of detecting COVID-19 starting April 1, 2021 in all transportation modes.

"I agree that all transportation nodes use GeNose as an alternative means of checking against COVID-19, but the quality of this GeNose must continue to be improved," said Luhut.

Currently the use of GeNose as a travel requirement has been carried out for long-distance rail transport, as well as for random (random / optional) bus and crossings.