Early Detection for New Coronavirus to become Increasingly Difficult

Early detection to find out whether a person has the new coronavirus will become increasingly difficult. Body temperature measurements are no longer effective.

KOMPAS/PRIYOMBODO

A young girl wears a mask at Gambir Station in Central Jakarta on Friday (31/1/2020). The station anticipated the spread of a new coronavirus (2019 n-Cov) by familiarizing railway passengers with the virus and distributing masks to them.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The latest findings show that people with the new coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infection may display no symptoms of being ill but can still spread the virus to others. This makes body temperature screening no longer effective. As a result, several countries have closed access to visits from China.

“The possibility of the new coronavirus entering Indonesia without us noticing becomes high as body temperature screening is no longer effective. People with the infection may not even show signs of being ill,” Eikjman Institute of Molecular Biology director Amin Soebandrio said in Jakarta on Friday (31/1/2020).