President Jokowi Calls for Cut in PCR Test Costs

In addition, the President also ordered that the PCR test results be made available within 24 hours.

KOMPAS/KRISTIAN OKA PRASETYADI

A swab sample was taken from the throat of a resident, Tuesday (27/7/2021), in Wanea, Manado, North Sulawesi, for the purpose of tracking the spread of Covid-19 with a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The high cost of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test to detect Covid-19 has hampered Indonesia’s pandemic response. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has therefore called on the health minister to reduce the cost of the PCR test.

“One way to increase testing is to lower the price of the PCR tests, and I have spoken to the health minister about this. I asked that the cost of the PCR tests to be reduced to a range of between Rp 450,000 (US$32) and Rp 550,000," President Joko Widodo said on Sunday (15/8/2021) at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, in a video broadcast on the Presidential Secretariat YouTube channel.