"According to the analysis of data, testing has decreased every weekend or during the long holidays. This is one of the challenges we are attempting to address," spokesperson for the COVID-19 Handling Task Force Prof. Wiku Adisasmito noted in a statement received in Jakarta, Friday.
The COVID-19 Handling Task Force continues to encourage the local governments to conduct maximum and comprehensive testing to detect positive cases of COVID-19 in their respective regions.
Adisasmito highlighted that the COVID-19 Task Force had continued to coordinate with the local government to boost the capacity of laboratories and other supporting facilities, such as reagents, but obstacles, including the large testing area and number of people, continued to plague this endeavor.
In supporting specimen examination efforts, the public can immediately head to the nearest health facility if they experience symptoms of COVID-19.
Speaking in connection with a decrease in the number of test results, Adisasmito pointed to problems with the testing equipment and examiners, despite timely, regular upgrades. Coordination is ongoing with local government and laboratories to ensure the required testing tools and human resources.
"This is because there are quite a lot of them, so we have to make sure one by one. The total required equipment and human resources depends on the population and area," he stated.
Adisasmito pointed out that the government was currently making improvements and harmonizing coordination pertaining to data from districts to provinces and to the center, specifically to the Ministry of Health.
The COVID-19 Handling Task Force anticipates data updates after the verification process at the regional and central levels.
"This is an effort to reach level one of the COVID-19 data and central as well as regional data interoperability," Adisasmito noted.
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Translator: Aditya R, Azis Kurmala
Editor: Suharto
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