The Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology in Jakarta, Friday, received donation worth Rp10 billion from pharmaceutical firm PT Tempo Scan Pacific (TSPC) Tbk that will be channeled for intensifying COVID-19-related examination at its laboratory facilities.
The donated funds were received through the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Task Force for Accelerating COVID-19 Handling, Head of the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology Amin Subandrio notified journalists here.
The institute's laboratory is one of those selected by the Indonesian government to assist the Health Ministry to detect harmful microbes and the novel coronavirus, he revealed, adding that the Eijkman Institute has, until now, examined nearly three thousand test samples.
Some 10 percent of those samples revealed positive results. The Eijkman Institute requires the support of various parties to enable it to double its laboratory capacity, he stated.
Subandrio opined that enhanced capacity to detect COVID-19 in test samples was the key to success in the fight against the coronavirus.
The new coronavirus disease that firstly struck the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019 had infected over one million people globally, according to CNN, quoting the data released by Johns Hopkins University on April 2, 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also spread to various parts of Indonesia. As of April 2, there were 1,790 confirmed cases, while the death toll was recorded at 170, and 112 patients were discharged from hospitals.
Since the start, Jakarta has emerged as the epicenter of this deadly virus in Indonesia.
In combating the spread of this virus, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has sought the central government's support to increase COVID-19 testing, including both rapid and swab tests, in the capital city.
Speaking during a teleconference with Vice President Ma'ruf Amin, posted on the vice president's official social media account on Thursday, Baswedan stressed on the significance of intensifying the capacity of the COVID-19 test using swab or samples.
"Here, in Jakarta, we are in dire need of support to expedite testing, so we can detect people exposed (to the coronavirus) as early as possible," he stated, adding that the lack of testing had resulted in a delay in the detection of several cases of COVID-19 infections in Jakarta despite the COVID-19 response team having distributed rapid test kits in the capital.
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