Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Indonesia’s Minister of Health, said on Monday (Dec 27) that the nation has set a goal of developing specialised reagents for the S Gene Target Failure (SGTF) test to identify the Omicron variant.
Indonesia Plans To Produce SGTF Test Kits For Omicron Variant Detection
Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Indonesia’s Minister of Health, said on Monday (Dec 27) that the nation has set a goal of developing specialised reagents for the S Gene Target Failure (SGTF) test to identify the Omicron variant.
Budi previously clarified to Vietnam News Agency (VNA) that the distinction between the standard PCR test and the SGTF PCR test is in the specific reagent kit required for SGTF.
Source - Vietnamplus
He added that the Health Ministry has partnered with universities to produce local production, expressing anticipation that reagents capable of conducting domestic SGTF testing would be developed in less than three months.
The government has provided a number of SGTF test kits to the country’s land, sea, and airports of entry. These initiatives aim to reduce the Omicron variant’s transmission rate in Indonesia.
On the same day, Indonesia’s government increased the number of PCR tests required for arrivals under obligatory quarantine to three tests.
Indonesia has recorded 46 Covid-19 Omicron variant cases so far. The first case was detected on December 16. A janitor at the Wisma Atlet Jakarta Hospital contracted the novel viral Omicron variant.
Source – The Star
