Update On COVID-19 As Of 12 May: Thousands Of TCM And RT-PCR Kits Distributed

The government spokesman for the handling of COVID-19, Achmad Yurianto

JAKARTA - Government spokesman for the handling of COVID-19, Achmad Yurianto, explained the progress of the case as of Wednesday, May 13 at 12.00 WIB. There were an additional 689 confirmed positive cases today. The total number of positive cases became 15,438 people.

Even so, there was good news received. The number of recovered cases has outperformed the death cases. There were an additional 224 patients recovered, bringing the total to 3,287 patients. Meanwhile, 21 patients died, bringing it to 1,028 patients.

Then, additional numbers also occurred in patient data under surveillance (PDP) with a total of 33,042 people. Meanwhile, the cases of people under monitoring (ODP) increased to 256,299.

"These are the data we have obtained. We still believe that cases of transmission in the community are still occurring," said Yuri at a press conference at Graha BNPB, East Jakarta, Wednesday, May 13.

Then, the government has tested the saliva specimen (swab) or Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and rapid molecular test (TCM) for 169,195 times. The number of cases examined was 123,572 people.

Yuri continued, the government has distributed thousands of testing kits for COVID-19 molecular rapid test (TCM) and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) machines.

Regarding the TCM examination, as of yesterday the government has sent 6,300 cartridges to 64 hospitals in 64 districts or cities in 30 provinces. TCM is a test method that can produce fast reactions.

This tool tracks the presence of the corona virus antigen in the specimen fluid and has a high level of accuracy, namely 95 percent. However, previously it was difficult for the government to use this method because of the difficulty of finding supplies of equipment that was being fought over by many countries.

"Now, regencies and cities are capable of self-examination using molecular rapid tests," said Yuri.

In addition, the government has also increased the provision of inspection for RT-PCR machines. The addition of this machine is used through a machine that has been measuring the viral load of the HIV-AIDS virus.

RT-PCR is the most widely used test worldwide to detect the coronavirus. This machine tests the specimen from a swab or saliva sample taken from the bridge of the nose or throat.

As of yesterday, the viral load RT-PCR machine has been used to carry out thousands of tests in various regions. In Jakarta, this RT-PCR machine has tested 2,592 tests in 2 hospitals, 480 tests in Yogyakarta, 768 tests in East Java, 480 tests in NTT, and 1,440 tests in Papua.

"This means that now we can do more for the test. We also distribute (RT-PCR machines) to several cities in North Sumatra, Central Kalimantan, Papua, West Papua, NTT and North Maluku," Yuri explained.