Amid the hard work of the government and other institutions in tackling the spread of Covid-19, there are still a number of individuals who are looking for personal gains by endangering the lives of others.
By
KOMPAS TEAM
·5 minutes read
HUMAS POLDA SUMUT
North Sumatra Regional Police officers show used antigen rapid test kits that were packaged and reused at the Kimia Farma Laboratory at Kualanamu Airport, Deli Serdang, North Sumatra, Tuesday (27/4/2021).
KUALANAMU, KOMPAS -- Extreme violations endanger lives, such is the case with the practice of using used equipment for antigen swab tests at the Kimia Farma Laboratory at Kualanamu Airport, North Sumatra, which the police took action against on Tuesday (27/4/2021). In fact, that is not the only way people have been seeking to profit amid the hard work of the state and volunteers to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Head of the Medan Class I Port Health Office, Pri Agung, on Wednesday (28/4), said that they only validated the results of the swab tests issued by the laboratory at Kualanamu Airport. They do not supervise the inspection of the equipment used.
The loophole was abused by laboratory workers. As of Wednesday evening, the North Sumatra Regional Police had arrested seven people, but had not yet declared their legal status. They are five employees of the Kimia Farma Laboratory at Kualanamu Airport and two leaders at the Kimia Farma Laboratory on Jl. RA Kartini Medan, namely business managers who are concurrently the head of services and operation analysts.
If there was a violation, we will make sure that it [the crime] was purely the initiative of the laboratory workers.
The case was revealed when personnel from the Special Criminal Directorate of the North Sumatra Regional Police followed up on the irregularities in a report on the antigen swab test results at the state-owned enterprise’s (BUMN) clinical laboratory. Very many positive Covid-19 test results came from there. "Hundreds of used antigen rapid test kits were found. They had been washed and put back in the packaging," said North Sumatra Police Public Relations head Sr. Comr. Hadi Wahyudi. He made sure the police continued to investigate who was involved.
At a press conference at Kualanamu Airport, PT Kimia Farma Diagnostik president director Adil Fadilah Bulqini said they led the police to do the investigation. "If there was a violation, we will make sure that it [the crime] was purely the initiative of the laboratory workers," said Adil Fadilah.
KOMPAS/NIKSON SINAGA
President Director of PT Kimia Farma Diagnostik Adil Fadilah Bulqini (second from left) gave an explanation of the use of a used Covid-19 antigen rapid test kit at Kualanamu Airport, Deli Serdang, North Sumatra, Wednesday (28/4/2021).
The spokesperson for the North Sumatra Covid-19 task force, who is also the secretary of the North Sumatra Health Office, Aris Yudhariansyah, called the violations extreme. "So far, we have carried out monitoring so that there is no abuse of expired equipment and have made sure the procedure is correct. Using used equipment is very gross,” he said.
The Health Ministry also supports strict legal sanctions for this case. Apart from Kualanamu, Kimia Farma also has Covid-19 laboratories at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Minangkabau Airport (Padang), Depati Amir Airport (Bangka) and Belitung Airport.
Kompas has observed that a number of Kimia Farma clinical laboratories in Medan have closed. On Jl. RA Kartini, the laboratory is completely closed without employees on duty.
Indian citizens
Yesterday, City Resort Police personnel at Soekarno-Hatta Airport also arrested 11 suspects, namely four Indonesian citizens (WNI) and seven Indian citizens. The four Indonesian citizens acted as jockeys who helped eight Indian people pass immigration and health checkpoints on April 21.
Of the seven Indian citizens who were arrested, five were declared suspects because they avoided the mandatory two-week quarantine, while the other two helped the four Indonesian suspects carry out their actions.
They did it by entering names of Indian citizens who had just arrived at the hotel designated for quarantine. However, it turned out that those Indian citizens did not take a bus to the hotel, but were directed to take a taxi or private car to avoid quarantine. The suspects set a tariff of Rp 6 million to Rp 7.5 million per person.
"These people sought profit without thinking about the impact. We did not know there was a new variant [of the coronavirus] there. Don\'t let Indonesia experience a second wave of Covid-19,” said Jakarta Police Public Relations head Sr. Comr. Yusri Yunus.
These people sought profit without thinking about the impact.
HUMAS POLRES BANDARA SOEKARNO-HATTA
A total of 32 Indian citizens were sent home via Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, on Sunday (25/4/2021).
The government needs to take strict precautions. Professor of Medicine at Airlangga University, Djoko Santoso, said that in India there was a "double mutant" variant that came from two ferocious virus mutations, namely E484K from South Africa and L452R from the United States. Both variants have a mechanism that cannot be detected by human antibodies.
The two mutations are said to significantly reduce the neutralizing effect of antibodies and can be more uncontrollable when combined. "This Indian strain must be avoided by other countries with high discipline by banning visitors from India," said Djoko.
Yusri admits there are weaknesses in the monitoring mechanism for people who have just arrived from India at Soekarno-Hatta Airport. The weaknesses include the lack of double-checking the number of passengers who disembark from the plane and arrive at the quarantine hotel.
The suspects used the loophole to avoid quarantine. "We will fix everything. Hopefully this will serve as a lesson for us," said Yusri.
Previously, the Jakarta City Police arrested two suspects who helped an Indonesian citizen, identified only as JD, who had just arrived from India at Soekarno-Hatta Airport escape quarantine. The suspects, identified as S and RW, received Rp 6.5 million to help JD avoid his mandatory two-week quarantine. Later, the police arrested another suspect, identified as GC.
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