We bought the equipment from Swiss company Roche, and they have arrived in Indonesia.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian government has bought 20 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test equipment comprising two RNA automatic extractors and 18 PCR detectors to support COVID-19 tests in the country, an official confirmed.

"We bought the equipment from Swiss company Roche, and they have arrived in Indonesia," special staff member of the state-owned enterprises minister Arya Mahendra Sinulingga noted during a press conference at the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Building in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Sinulingga pointed to the different capabilities of the two equipment while adding that the RNA automatic extractor can be used for one thousand RNA tests per day and the PCR detector for five hundred tests per day.

Once all equipment is installed, they can be used to test nine to 10 thousand samples for COVID-19 per day, he remarked.

"The equipment will enable us to achieve the target of the people we are looking to test. The PCR equipment can help us in testing whether the people have contracted the coronavirus infection," he stated.

The Indonesian government claimed to have tested 14,354 samples for COVID-19 by employing the PCR method as of Tuesday.

"We have received samples from over 300 COVID-19 referral hospitals," government spokesperson for COVID-19 handling, Achmad Yurianto, stated during a press conference held on Tuesday at the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) in Jakarta.

All samples have been tested on a real-time basis until 8 a.m. local time on Tuesday (April 7) using the PCR method, he revealed.

The COVID-19 referral hospitals that have sent the samples comprise government-run general hospitals, state-owned companies' hospitals, military and police hospitals, and private hospitals.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Indonesia has risen to 2,738 as of Tuesday (April 7), while 221 people died of the disease and 204 individuals had recovered.
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Translator: Asep Firmansyah/Suharto
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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