The Straits Times
Indonesia deploys coronavirus breathalyser at train stations
A healthcare worker tests an air-sample of a commuter using GeNose C19 in Jakarta on Feb 3, 2021.PHOTO: REUTERS
PublishedFeb 3, 2021, 10:11 pm SGT
https://str.sg/JrST
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Indonesia deploys COVID-19 breath test detectors at train stations
A woman wearing a protective mask blows a plastic bag as she takes her air sample to be tested for the COVID-19 using the GeNose detection tool at a train station in Jakarta, Indonesia on Feb 3, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana)
03 Feb 2021 11:59PM Share this content
JAKARTA: Indonesia on Wednesday (Feb 3) rolled out COVID-19 breath test detectors at train stations.
The detectors, known as GeNose, was developed by the University of Gadjah Mada (UGM), which says it detects the reaction between the coronavirus and body tissue in the respiratory tract with at least 95 per cent accuracy.
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The machine, sold at 68 million Indonesian rupiah ($4,850), is implanted with a memory of positive PCR swab test results, Kuwat Triyana, who heads the innovation team, told Reuters.
“This tool adapts the function of the human nose or of the sniffer dog’s nose, which is to recognize the smell, or in this case to recognize the smell of the breath of a person who is confirmed with COVID, compared to people who are not,” he said.
Those with positive readings are required to undergo a confirmatory PCR test.
Though it does have shortcomings, it could help detection efforts, said Dicky Budiman, an epidemiologist at Griffith University.