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View all search resultsCOVID-19: Jokowi increases daily testing target to 20,000
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Medical workers take swab samples from a patient under surveillance (PDP) at Tarakan General Hospital in North Kalimantan on April 28. Such samples are tested using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method to determine whether a patient has COVID-19. (Antara/Fachrurrozi)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has increased the COVID-19 testing target to 20,000 samples per day as new cases mount in several regions of the archipelago.
He has called on all stakeholders to make plans to achieve the new testing target.
“I’m thankful that the previous target of 10,000 samples per day has been surpassed. I expect the next target to be 20,000 samples per day. We must start planning [to meet that target],” he said in his opening speech at a virtual limited Cabinet meeting on Thursday.
According to a report published by the national COVID-19 task force on Wednesday, the total number of tests has reached 11,970 per day.
The President also urged the national COVID-19 task force, the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police to focus on mitigating the spread of the virus in the country’s three hardest-hit regions: East Java, South Sulawesi and South Kalimantan.
“Please make them [a priority] so that we can further flatten the infection curve,” he added.
As of Wednesday, East Java had reported 5,318 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 429 deaths; South Sulawesi had reported 1,668 confirmed cases and 75 deaths; and South Kalimantan had reported 1,033 confirmed cases and 90 deaths.
Surabaya in East Java has been designated a “black zone” as the region had recorded 2,803 confirmed cases and 256 fatalities linked to the disease as of Wednesday, making it the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the province.
