Three months after the coronavirus first hit the capital, the Government of Jakarta continues to work in curbing the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. One way the government has taken to reduce the number of new positive cases is by increasing the testing capacity. For information, according to data compiled from the corona.jakarta.go.id site on July 2, 2020, Jakarta has conducted a total of 238,796 Rapid Tests and 151,771 Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) Tests.
Along with the implementation of the PSBB, the transition period, and the increase in community activities outside the home, the provincial government also applies the active case finding method. This method allows the government to detect effectively and more quickly so that positive cases can be found as early as possible. The risk of a surge in cases can also be minimized.
Massive Testing with Active Case Finding
The opening of several sectors, albeit with limited capacity, on the transition period of PSBB does not mean that the provincial government has reduced its alertness of Covid-19. On the contrary, the Jakarta Department of Health (Dinkes DKI) increases its intensity of testing.
On 9 April 2020, Dinkes DKI established a satellite laboratory for testing the Covid-19 sample at Pasar Minggu Hospital and Duren Sawit Regional Hospital. A network system that connects 41 laboratories in Jakarta was also built to support the Covid-19 testing.
Adding capacity testing is not done through random sampling though. As stated in their official letter, the health department has established the active case finding method as the most appropriate for the transition period. This way, the Dinkes DKI could actively seek out citizens with OTG status or asymptomatic much early.
The Dinkes DKI assessed, without active case finding, coupled with increased activity in Jakarta, the number of positive cases could have jumped sharply because many OTGs were not monitored and did not realize that they had been exposed to Covid-19.
The steps undertaken by the Dinkes DKI started to bear its fruit. In the evaluation meeting of the first phase of the transition period, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said the number of PCR tests carried out in Jakarta had reached 14,258 per 1 million population, exceeding the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation of 10,000 tests per 1 million population.
"If we look at our testing activities, the total number of people that have been tested is approximately 7.6% [of the population] or 151,171 people. Then, our PCR test number was 14,258 per 1 million population, with a total of 313,450 specimens tested. So, from this, it appears that we are above the [minimum] requirements set by WHO. WHO requires a region to conduct 10,000 tests per 1 million population. Jakarta, with 11 million inhabitants, must conduct 11,000 tests per week, and in Jakarta at least this past week has conducted 14,000 tests per 1 million population," he explained at City Hall, Jakarta (1/7).
Effective PCR Test with Corona Likelihood Metric
Smartcitizen, do you know that the steps currently being taken by Dinkes DKI do not only come from internal sources? Yes, since the beginning of the emergence of the coronavirus, the provincial government has always intensified the spirit of collaboration with its staff to accelerate Jakarta's recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Starting with the movement to help others through the Large-scale Social Collaboration (KSBB) program, to the latest, namely collaboration in creating a CLM or Corona Likelihood Metric, a technology that helps people to self-check Covid-19 symptoms.
CLM is an innovation that was successfully realized by Dinkes DKI and Jakarta Smart City, along with other collaborators such as the Harvard CLM Team and Klakklik.ID. With this tool, citizens who feel they have symptoms similar to Covid-19 no longer need to see a doctor directly to find out if they are exposed to the coronavirus.
Machine-learning based CLM is able to process information and answers to automatically provide the most appropriate medical recommendations to users. For ease of access, CLM technology has also been integrated into the JakCLM feature in the JAKI application.
[Download JAKI for Google Play Store or App Store!]
The benefits of CLM are not only felt by people who previously had difficulty getting access to consultations regarding Covid-19. Since the beginning of its development, CLM is also intended to assist the provincial government in the process of selecting citizens who need a PCR test. This needs to be done given the limited number of PCR test kits. In other words, CLM helps ensure that the PCR test is carried out effectively and efficiently.
Not only that, but the examination results in CLM will also become a scientific database that can be used by Dinkes DKI to trace and detect high-risk groups or areas.
Smart citizens, this is only a small sample of efforts that have been intensified by Dinkes DKI in decreasing the rate of spread of Covid-19 during the PSBB transition period. Slowly, piece by piece, various aspects of life began to reappear in our city of Jakarta. But remember, do not take this as an excuse for you to reduce your vigilance during a pandemic. As currently showed by Dinkes DKI, we must not lower our guard. Always adhere to the already established health protocols, so you can travel and move safely.
112