Production of the S-Gene Target Failure, or PCR test, for virus detection in 4-6 hours, as an early indication of the Omicron variant, would be completed by January-end 2022, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin stated.
“Now that we have prepared it, the production is expected to be completed by the end of this month, and later on, we will distribute it,” the minister noted during a meeting as seen on the YouTube Channel of Commission IX of the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
Sadikin noted that the SGTF tool is a solution to detect the Omicron variant in Indonesia following the use of genome sequencing tools that were relatively expensive and took longer periods of time to produce results, ranging from six to seven days.
“Genome sequencing is only available in 12 laboratories and one test for one reagent costs Rp5 million to Rp6 million,” he remarked.
The minister explained that it took a long time to produce genome sequencing results, as Indonesia had only 12 specialized genome sequencing laboratories, with 15 units of test kits.
On the other hand, the PCR test kits cost around Rp300 thousand each, with the number of examination laboratories reaching 1,100 in Indonesia.
“Now the question is do we want to use genome sequencing? Actually, it is not necessarily needed, (from a) epidemiology (point of view),” he affirmed.
The minister highlighted the need for the genome sequencing method to determine the pattern of the variant’s transmission and adopt early prevention measures.
Sadikin remarked that the COVID-19 detection method, using both antigen and PCR tests, was still effective. “However, PCR is still better, as it is the gold standard. Both antigen and PCR are confirmed to be able to detect the COVID-19 virus regardless of its variant,” Sadikin remarked.
However, a genome sequencing tool is necessary to determine its variant, whether it was Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma, or Omicron.
“Yet still since we now use heavy genome sequencing, now there is a variation in the PCR test called SGTF that can detect certain unique mutations, such as Omicron,” Sadikin said.
Source: Antara News