Month: July 2021

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Veteran National Development University Jakarta (UPNVJ), in collaboration with Jakarta Metro Jaya Police and several parties, conducted a mass vaccination program for residents to support the government’s efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This vaccination program is dedicated to all residents. We hope that by conducting this mass vaccination, people can get vaccinated soon so that they can reduce the risk of severe symptoms when exposed to COVID-19,” UPNVJ Rector Dr. Erna Hernawati stated in a written statement issued in Jakarta on Saturday.

She said the program initially only targeted 400 recipients, but due to the enthusiasm shown by the people, 1,200 doses of the Sinovac vaccine were prepared for the program.

Those seeking vaccinations were asked to pre-register themselves online using Google Forms, Hernawati informed.

However, people who came without registering online were still served, the rector added. Meanwhile, Vice Rector for Student Affairs and Partnership Dr. Ria Maria Theresa said the high levels of enthusiasm shown by the residents prompted the UPNVJ to request more vaccine doses from the Metro Jaya Police.

“Finally, we got an additional 500 doses of vaccines from the Medicine and Health Department (Biddokkes) of Metro Jaya Police,” Theresa added.

Jakarta Police’s Community Development Director Senior Commissioner Badya Wijaya said the mass vaccination was conducted to accelerate the government’s immunization program, as per the directions of Jakarta police chief, Inspector General Fadil Imran.

“We have never thought that the enthusiasm of the residents could be this high. This indicates that people have understood the importance of vaccinations,” Wijaya remarked.

He also informed that the Jakarta Metropolitan Police is currently conducting two vaccination programs targeting two thousand people through vaccination booths and mobile vaccination booths.

 

Source: Antara News

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The number of active COVID-19 cases in Jakarta has dropped to 19,656 as of Saturday (July 31, 2021), according to data provided on the official government website, corona.jakarta.go.id.

“COVID-19 active cases in Jakarta, which once reached 113 thousand cases on July 16 (2021) have fallen to 19 thousand. This means the (number of) active cases is currently lower than the number of active cases during the first wave in February (2021),” Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan informed here on Saturday.

Thus, Baswedan said, the number of active cases in Jakarta has declined by around 83 percent in two weeks.

A decline has been seen not only in the number of active cases, but also in the number of burials, he noted.

On Saturday, the number of funerals, conducted in compliance with COVID-19 protocols, stood at around 150-200, while two weeks ago, the number of funerals had reached 350-400 per day, the governor disclosed. Not only that, the number of deaths among patients undergoing self-isolation has also continued to decrease, with around five deaths reported a day, he said.

Earlier, mortality among patients in self-isolation had reached 75 cases per day, he added.

He then cautioned residents and stakeholders not to become careless due to the decline.

“Don’t let your guard down, don’t be careless, don’t let the tables turn on us,” he stressed.

Baswedan said he hoped that people would continue to follow the 5M health protocols of wearing masks, washing hands with soap in running water, maintaining physical distance, avoiding crowds, and limiting mobility and social interactions.

 

Source: Antara News

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The average number of passengers using the Jakarta Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) fell 80 percent to 4,450 per day in July, 2021, following the implementation of public activity restrictions (PPKM) starting July 3, 2021.

Daily MRT passengers fell sharply from 22,686 in June to 4,450 in July, President Director of PT MRT Jakarta (Perseroda) William Sabandar said.

“We can see from our target of 40 thousand, the number of passengers in July is 4,450, so it is only 10 percent of what we are targeting,” Sabandar noted during a webinar organized by MRT Jakarta on Friday.

This city-owned transportation company has restricted the number of passengers, temporarily closed three stations, closed a number of entrances, enforced worker registration certificates (STRP) for essential sector workers, and changed daily operating hours, he informed.

Most of the efforts were made to support the government’s policies during the emergency public activity restrictions (PPKM) and level 4 PPKM to help stop the spread of COVID-19 and suppress the spike in active cases, Sabandar said.

Meanwhile, since the STRP obligation was enforced on July 12, 2021, the number of daily MRT passengers dropped to a low of 491, he added.

During the emergency PPKM and level 4 PPKM implemented from July 3 – July 28, 2021, the number of daily passengers stood at 3,839, while the total number of passengers during the period was recorded at 99,820, he disclosed.

“Once the STRP was carried out, the number fell even further. We can see that the STRP has succeeded in suppressing mobility and in reducing the number of victims both (who have been) exposed (to the virus) and (those who have) died amid the surge in COVID-19 cases,” Sabandar said.

At present, MRT Jakarta has restricted operating hours from 6 a.m. Western Indonesian Time (WIB) to 8:30 p.m. WIB from Mondays to Fridays and from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.WIB on weekends and holidays.

The frequency of trains (headway) on weekdays is every 10 minutes, while on the weekends and holidays is every 20 minutes, according to MRT.

The MRT is also limiting the number of commuters to 65 per train, Sabandar said.

 

Source: Antara News

Kendari, SE Sulawesi (ANTARA) – Thirty-one passengers traveling on the KM Dobonsolo ship were found carrying fake health documents after they disembarked at Murhum Port in Baubau, Southeast Sulawesi.

The passengers boarded the ship from Sorong Port in West Papua and Ambon in Maluku carrying fake vaccination certificates and swab antigen test results, spokesperson for Baubau’s COVID-19 Handling Task Force, Dr. Lukman, informed via a short message on Friday.

“There were 31 passengers with fake documents, vaccination certificates, and swab antigen results. They did not get the vaccine yet, and the swab antigen tests were not recorded,” Lukman said.

The passengers told officials they had paid Rp500 thousand to Rp700 thousand for each falsified document, while some claimed that the price included the cost of their ticket, he informed.

The passengers were planning to travel to different cities/districts in Southeast Sulawesi, including Baubau City, Buton District, Central Buton District, South Buton District, Muna, and Kendari, he said.

Officials at the Kendari Port Health Office (KKP) in Baubau became suspicious when they scrutinized documents after hundreds of passengers arrived at Murhum Port, he added.

The police will investigate the case, Lukman said,adding that officials did not detain the 31 passengers, but asked them to conduct self-isolation for three days.

 

Source: Antara News

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said the government has succeeded in suppressing the increase in COVID-19 cases as the infection rate has slowly declined thanks to the enforcement of Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM).

“Indeed, extending the enforcement of PPKM was a hard decision. However, there is no other way. The number of confirmed cases has quickly jumped. Fortunately, Alhamdulillah (all praise to God), it has started to slowly decline,” he stated here Friday.

He made the statement while distributing the President Aids (Banpres) for Productive Micro Enterprises to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) at the Merdeka Palace’s yard.

The statement comes following his visit to Kemayoran Athletes Village COVID-19 Emergency Hospital in Central Jakarta on Friday morning. He found the hospital’s occupancy rate has fallen to 38 percent from the earlier 90 percent.

“We (Indonesians) have to be grateful, since the infection rate on Java Island has started to decline. However, the regions outside Java Island have experienced a rise of COVID-19 transmission,” the President added.

Actually, the pandemic had subsided in the country from January until May 2021. At the same time, economic activity had also started to recover.

However, the unexpected rapid and massive transmission of the COVID-19 Delta variant increased the number of infected people drastically and negatively impacted the national economic recovery, he said.

According to data from the COVID-19 Handling Task Force website, there were 43,479 additional confirmed COVID-19 cases on Thursday, raising to 554,484 active cases on July 29, 2021. Meanwhile, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia has reached 3,331,206 cases since March 2020.

 

Source: Antara News