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Swab scandal, quarantine breaches call Indonesia's tourism reopening into question
While Indonesia hopes to reopen to international tourists in the near future, medical policy failures, including the reuse of COVID-19 test kits and breaches of mandatory quarantine, may jeopardize the country's plans.
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Travelers wait in line for a rapid COVID-19 antigen test at Terminal 2 of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, on Dec. 22, 2020. (Antara/Fauzan)
W
hile Indonesia plans to reopen to international tourists in the near future, medical policy failures, including the reuse of COVID-19 test kits and breaches of mandatory quarantine, have called the country’s preparation into question.
The government has established several travel rules in an effort to reduce COVID-19 transmission risk. Travelers must present negative results from either PCR or antigen tests, and people arriving from outside the country are required to quarantine at designated facilities for five days. But with weak policy oversight, some have treated the rules as an opportunity for illicit profit and others have found ways around the regulations entirely.
In North Sumatra, the police recently named five workers from state-owned clinical laboratory company Kimia Farma Diagnostika suspects for allegedly reusing up to 150 rapid antigen test kits daily since December 2020 on people departing from Kualanamu International Airport in Deli Serdang.
The employees have been accused of cleaning the used swabs at a lab in Medan. One of the suspects, the firm's then-business manager, acknowledged to the media that he was aware of the practice and added that they had recycled only the swabs of those who had tested negative.
“This is not in line with the health standards,” North Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen. Panca Putra Simanjuntak said during a press briefing last week.
The suspects allegedly made Rp 1.8 billion (US$124,630) through the scheme, some Rp 149 million of which has been confiscated by the police. An antigen test can cost up to Rp 250,000.
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