A locally made COVID-19 detector called Gadjah Mada Electronic or GeNose is currently at the post-marketing diagnostic phase and circulating in the public.
By
Kompas Team
·5 minutes read
KOMPAS/AGUS SUSANTO
Prospective train passengers undergo a GeNose C19 breath sample test at Pasar Senen Station, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday (3/2/2021).
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — A locally made COVID-19 detector called Gadjah Mada Electronic or GeNose is currently at the post-marketing diagnostic phase and circulating in the public. GeNose, which detects possible COVID-19 infections through human breath, will be used at a number of train stations for long-distance train passengers in the future. To ensure its accuracy, the detector must meet a set of standards.
Association of Indonesian Clinical Microbiologist central board member Anis Karuniawati said on Wednesday (3/2/2021) in Jakarta that the use of the SARS-CoV-2 detectors must also consider the established standards.
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test has become the main COVID-19 diagnosis standard. For early screening, the World Health Organization has recommended the antigen swab test.
“Other testing tools, such as the GeNose, require more study,” Anis said.
Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi, during his visit to the Pasar Senen Station in Jakarta on Tuesday, said: “We will open the GeNose testing service [on Friday] in two [train] stations, namely Pasar Senen station in Jakarta and Tugu Station in Yogyakarta. It will gradually be used in 44 train stations.”
Apart from the two aforementioned locations, a number of train stations in other cities will begin to open the GeNose diagnostic test services, including those in Surabaya in East Java, Semarang and Surakarta in Central Java, and Bandung and Cirebon in West Java. The cities were chosen based on their volume of long-distance train passengers.
Kompas
A health worker takes swab sample of a member of the press to test for COVID-19 in the venue of Vietnam Communist party congress in Hanoi, Vietnam Friday, Jan. 29, 2021. Fresh outbreak of COVID-19 in northern Vietnam has increased to several dozens of cases as the country is locking down a company and several communities to curb the coronavirus spread.
The GeNose test results, therefore, can become one of the options for long-distance train passengers who need to provide COVID-19 test results, apart from the antigen and the PCR swab tests. The test results are valid for three days before departure time.
Research and Technology and Higher Education Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro added that the use of the GeNose detectors was expected to support the ease of traveling, as well as maintain the safety of train passengers from the risks of COVID-19 transmission. The detector has undergone through several tests and has secured a permit from the Health Ministry.
Based on its trials, GeNose has claimed a 93 to 95 percent accuracy rate, with 89 to 92 percent sensitivity and 95 to 96 specificity rates. The toll is technically designed to detect COVID-19 though breath patterns. The samples tested are the result of viral metabolism or volatile organic compound (VOC) contained in the exhalation.
According to Bambang, the locally made GeNose is more comfortable to use and is relatively affordable. Moreover, the test results will be out in around three minutes.
Passengers are required not to eat and drink 30 minutes prior to the test.
According to state-owned train operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia’s (KAI) provisions, the GeNose test results can be used as a precondition for train passengers at a price of Rp 20,000 (US$1.43) per person. Passengers are required not to eat and drink 30 minutes prior to the test.
Meanwhile, a number of regions have held mass COVID-19 vaccinations. In Sidoarjo, East Java, for example, the government is holding a vaccination drive for independent health workers at the Gelora Delta Stadium, according to Sidoarjo Health Agency head Syaf Satriawarman.
The West Java administration held massive vaccination simultaneously in 27 regencies/municipalities. At the Sasana Budaya Ganesha (Sabuga), a popular auditorium in Bandung, thousands of health workers are scheduled to receive their first shot on Feb. 3-4 and their second shot on Feb. 17-18.
Activity restrictions
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in a limited Cabinet meeting in Jakarta on Wednesday (3/2/2021) urged for a more effective COVID-19 handling. The government, therefore, started to implement public activity restrictions (PPKM) on the micro or local level, such as in the scope of neighborhood units (RT), community units (RW) or villages.
COVID-19 Response and National Economic Recovery Committee head Airlangga Hartarto explained that a micro-based approach would involve the role of the COVID-19 handling task force both at the central and smaller levels, namely RT or RW. Apart from that, law enforcement also requires to be applied.
Kompas/Priyombodo
Residents who exercise at the main Stadium complex Gelora Bung Karno, Senayan, Jakarta, receive free masks on Sunday (30/8/2020).
Throughout the micro-level PPKM, the government will pay special attention to the needs of the people through micro operations, which are centered in 98 PPKM locations and will be continuously evaluated. Following the first phase of the PPKM on Jan. 11-25, the restrictions were extended to Feb. 8.
So far, COVID-19 new confirmed cases and deaths have shown a declining trend. Indonesia, however, is experiencing an anomaly with its ever-increasing new cases and deaths. According to WHO data, the number of new confirmed cased in Indonesia in the past week was the seventh-highest in the world. In Asia, Indonesia leads as the country with most new confirmed cased and deaths.
The COVID-19 handling task force announced 11,984 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Wednesday 93/2), bringing the total number of infections nationwide to 1.11 million. The country’s active cases stood at 175,235, which is the highest in Asia. According to the task force, 189 more people have died of the disease, bringing Wednesday\'s death toll to 30,770.
University of Indonesia epidemiologist Iwan Ariawan said that according to a model created by his team in October 2020, Indonesia will experience the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2021, with 40,000 new confirmed cased per day. If social restrictions fail, the number of new cases could reach 60,000 daily.
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