December 13, 2021 – Page 4 – Indonesia News Gazette

December 13, 2021

Indonesia to implement bubble system for G20 events: official

A “bubble” system will be implemented during the G20 events in Indonesia, with the movements of delegates from abroad restricted to certain areas, health quarantine coordinator at the Ministry of Health, Imran Pambudi, has said.

“The delegates will only be allowed to go from the hotel to the venue, then come back to the hotel again. Each delegate will also be assisted by a liaison officer who will prohibit them from going outside the bubble area,” he said at a talk show, which was accessed from here on Monday.

All delegates, committees, and everyone involved in the G20 events will also need to undergo COVID-19 antigen tests every day, he said. In addition, representatives who want to return to their country will also be obliged to undergo PCR testing first, he noted.

Members of committees will need to undergo PCR testing one day after their event ends, he added.

Strict supervision of the delegates will be carried out because delegates have been exempted from quarantine obligations, he explained. So far, after several pre-event events, no person involved has tested positive for COVID-19, he said.

“This shows that our effort to implement the bubble system has succeeded, so there is no one tested positive (for COVID-19), no transmission,” he noted.

By implementing the bubble system, the G20 event venue will also be limited, so they will not require a lot of space, he said. Health protocols will also need to continue to be implemented, he added.

“No matter how hard we try, if our health protocol compliance is low, we will not be able to protect ourselves. The virus continues to mutate. Therefore, we must remain vigilant and not panic,” he stated.

The central government and regional governments need to cooperate and coordinate well as G20 will be a crucial event that will serve as a showcase for Indonesia, he remarked.

Source: Antara News

December 13, 2021

Violence against women up two-fold compared to 2020: commission

Cases of violence against women have recorded a two-fold increase to reach 4,500 as of September 2021 compared to 2020, the National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) has informed.

In a press statement released here on Monday, Komnas Perempuan’s commissioner, Andy Yentriyani, said that survivors of domestic abuse and sexual assault still faced criminalization in 2021.

“The increasing report of violence against women cases were not handled well because it does not match with the handling capacity,” she noted.

According to Yentriyani, there is an urgent need for handling the incidence of sexual violence, not just because of the increasing number of cases, or the complexity or the extremity of the cases. But because the handling capacity is not yet adequate for all entire regions, she said.

“The difficulty women victim encountered to receive justice became the foundation for the sexual violence prevention bill,” she added.

Meanwhile, a professor from the University of Indonesia, Sulityowati Irianto, said that Indonesia requires legal instruments to protect women from violence.

However, in practice, many regional policies are discriminative and go against the needs of the people, she added.

In addition, Indonesian people’s legal literacy remains lacking, which results in many problems during the process of legal product creation, she said.

For instance, the public still has many misconceptions regarding the contents of the Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Ministerial Regulation No 30 of 2021 concerning the prevention of sexual violence in universities.

Sexual violence occurs because of the lack of consent and power relations between parties, she stressed. These two elements have to be addressed in order to eradicate sexual violence, she said.

Meanwhile, the normalization of sexual violence happens because the people are not aware of the issues women face surrounding such violence, which slows down the process of handling cases of violence against women, she added.

The people’s behavior is the best support for the victim’s recovery and access to justice for victims of violence, the Komnas Perempuan commissioner added.

Source: Antara News

December 13, 2021

Blinken in Indonesia to Discuss US Approach to Region

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Jakarta on a 48-hour visit that includes talks with leaders about U.S.-Indonesia collaboration as well as a speech about the Biden administration’s wider policy aims for the region.

Blinken met Monday with Indonesian President Joko Widodo as the top U.S. diplomat made the first of three stops in southeast Asia this week.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said Blinken and Widodo discussed ways to boost the U.S.-Indonesia relationship, as well as “address challenges to democracy and human rights, as well as the climate crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“The secretary congratulated the president on Indonesia’s G-20 presidency and expressed support for Indonesia’s leadership in the Indo-Pacific as the world’s third-largest democracy and a strong proponent of the rules-based international order,” Price said in a statement, adding that Blinken also “reiterated the U.S. commitment to ASEAN centrality.”

Blinken also plans to go to Malaysia and Thailand in the coming days, seeking to reinforce ties with allies and promote freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.

China’s activities in the South China Sea have led to tensions. China vies with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam for sovereignty over parts of the resource-rich sea, which stretches from Hong Kong to Borneo.

Last month, China pledged to avoid dominance in the South China Sea, but experts said the pledge comes too late to convince smaller Southeast Asian claimants to the strategic waterway after years of Chinese expansion.

Blinken is scheduled to give an address Tuesday in Jakarta about the administration’s approach to the Indo-Pacific region.

Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand are members of ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Source: Voice of America

December 13, 2021

Research should boost social welfare: BRIN

The results of research and innovation must be able to improve the welfare of the community and make real contributions to national development.

Acting chief secretary of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Nur Tri Aries Suestiningtyas, made the remarks at the launch of the Research and Innovation Week 2021 here on Monday.

“Research and innovation must play a role in the efforts of nation’s advancement and society prosperity,” she said.

According to Suestiningtyas, research and innovation must make concrete contributions to national development in terms of improving the community’s progress and welfare if the results of research, development, assessment, and application can be used to meet the needs of the community.

Research and development (R&D) results must be able to provide a solution for real problems that the nation faces, she said.

The utilization of R&D results is still lacking currently, especially in building science and technology as the drivers of the Indonesian economy, she added.

Regarding the problem, the government, through BRIN, has an obligation and right to optimally push R&D results so they can be beneficial, she said.

Based on Law No. 11 of 2019 on the national system of science and technology, the central government must guarantee the R&D results to be used in the form of innovations, she added.

The law aligns with the Presidential Regulation No. 78 of 2021, as BRIN is striving for R&D results to be used well by technology users such as members of the public, MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises), the government, and start-ups, Suestiningtyas said.

BRIN is holding the Research and Innovation Week 2021 from December 13–17, 2021. Themed “Expanding Collaboration, Improving Commercialization”, the event will include a group discussion focusing on the industry’s recommendations on the use of research and innovation. I

Source: Antara News

December 13, 2021

Ministry to raise global healthcare reform plan in G20 agenda

The Health Ministry’s coordinator of health quarantine, Imran Pambudi, stated that health ministries of G20 countries would raise the global healthcare architecture reform plan at the meeting on Friday, Dec 17, 2021.

“We will raise three priority issues for the health working group that are leading the global health system resilience, harmonizing global health protocol standards, and expanding the global manufacturing hub for low-middle income countries,” Pambudi stated at a talk show on Indonesia’s G20 presidency viewed from Jakarta on Monday.

Apart from the three priority issues, Indonesia will also suggest member countries to share their knowledge and experiences regarding measures to respond to and prevent a pandemic, such as COVID-19, he affirmed.

A preliminary meeting between G20 ambassadors and international organizations, such as the WHO, UNICEF, and the World Bank, was held on Wednesday, Dec 8, 2021, to deliberate on the upcoming meeting of health ministers, the coordinator noted.

Pambudi remarked that Indonesia, as the first developing country to preside over the G20 presidency, must represent the interests of other developing countries in the global community.

“We must ensure that developing countries not only become the market destination but also serve in the manufacturing, development, and production of health equipment,” Pambudi remarked.

The coordinator expressed optimism over the smooth implementation of G20 agendas in Indonesia, as the government currently strives to keep the COVID-19 Omicron variant at bay by intensifying monitoring at every entry point.

“We also intensify monitoring at every international entry point at the three airports of Bali, Jakarta, and Manado, as well as the Batam Port,” he affirmed.

The health ministry also bolsters health workers and information systems utilized at entry points to detect possible Omicron cases and take precautionary measures to prevent the virus variant from entering Indonesia, the coordinator remarked.

“We are providing sophisticated laboratory equipment to detect the COVID-19 virus variant, and we will promptly deliver any positive samples detected at entry points to our laboratory in Jakarta,” Pambudi stated.

He noted that until recently, the authority had yet to detect any positive Omicron virus variant from samples collected at entry points.

Source: Antara News

December 13, 2021

Omicron: People urged to restrict travel to domestic destinations

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, has urged the public to spend the upcoming holidays at domestic destinations to prevent the transmission of the Omicron or B.1.1.529 variant of COVID-19.

He cautioned people against traveling abroad for the Christmas and New Year holidays, saying the Omicron variant has the ability to spread very quickly, with an increasing number of countries reporting cases.

“Do not bring the variant into the country. Please restrain from going abroad until things get better,” the coordinating minister remarked at an online press conference that was broadcast by the Presidential Secretariat’s YouTube channel on Monday.

Pandjaitan, who is also the Coordinator for the Enforcement of Community Activities Restrictions (PPKM) in Java-Bali, stressed that people should not travel abroad if not urgent.

According to state-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura, the number of flights leaving for overseas destinations has increased by up to twofold compared to earlier, he noted.

Hence, anticipating the return of the people who have gone abroad, the government has decided to impose a 10-day quarantine, he said.

“The addition to the number of self-isolation places is to anticipate the increase in quarantined people. The quarantine policy for foreign travelers will continue to be evaluated based on the development of the Omicron variant,” Pandjaitan added.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi informed that so far, there are more than 70 regions worldwide that have reported COVID-19 cases of the Omicron variant.

The United Kingdom, one of the 70 regions, has raised its COVID-19 alert from level 3 to level 4, following the addition of 1,239 cases of the new variant on December 12, 2021.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry has confirmed through a genome sequencing test that the transmission of the variant has not been detected in Indonesia to date.

Source: Antara News

December 13, 2021

Omicron variant more contagious, but symptoms mild: minister

The Omicron variant can spread more quickly but has low severity, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment and coordinator of Java-Bali mobility restrictions (PPKM), Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, has said.

“Preliminary data from South Africa shows that Omicron variant is indicated to spread faster than the previous type of mutation. However, Omicron is indicated to have a low level of severity,” he said at an online press conference on Monday.

The low level of severity is reflected in the number of hospitalized cases and the low death rate, Pandjaitan explained.

“Though people must pay attention that the mortality rate is a lagged indicator,” he added.

Pandjaitan also confirmed that until now, no cases linked to the Omicron variant have been detected in Indonesia.

“Until today, based on the information provided by the Health Ministry from the results of genome sequencing that is continuously being carried out, no cases of the Omicron variant have been found in Indonesia,” he remarked.

However, the government will continue to evaluate the quarantine process for foreign travelers to ensure that quarantine is carried out properly, the minister said.

One of the policies that will be implemented is a change in the status of foreign travelers’ PeduliLindungi application, which will turn black during their quarantine period, he elaborated.

“Based on data from Angkasa Pura airport operator, there was a significant increase of up to two times flights to overseas destinations under normal conditions,” Pandjaitan informed.

Therefore, the government is carefully anticipating their return from overseas by continuing and imposing a 10-day quarantine, he added.

“The government reminds the public not to go abroad except for urgent interests,” he said.

The government also continues to increase the capacity of quarantine hotels to anticipate an increase in the number of people returning or visiting Indonesia from abroad, he informed.

“The quarantine policy for foreign travelers will continue to be evaluated in accordance with the development of the Omicron variant,” he added.

Source: Antara News

December 13, 2021

Govt to push booster vaccinations starting Jan 2022: official

The Indonesian government will push COVID-19 booster or third dose vaccinations starting from January 2022, the coordinator of Presidential Special Staff Anak Agung Gede Ngurah (AAGN), Ari Dwipayana, has said.

“The government will push booster vaccinations starting from January 2022, while starting to inject vaccines to children aged 6–11 years, and continuing to optimize vaccinations for the elderly,” he informed at the 2022 Outlook presentation on Monday.

He further said that the government is hoping that locally-made Red and White vaccines could be used in 2022 to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of booster and regular vaccines.

Currently, the Red and White vaccine has reached the clinical trial stage, he added.

According to Dwipayana, Indonesia has successfully controlled the COVID-19 pandemic. The peak of the COVID-19 wave for the Delta variant occurred in July 2021, with 56,767 cases reported per day, he said.

However, as of December 10, 2021, the number of cases per day has drastically reduced to just 192, he noted.

However, citing a directive from President Joko Widodo, he said that Indonesians must not assume that the pandemic is over as the Omicron variant has been detected in many countries around the world.

He also said that globally, there are still problems regarding the gap in vaccine access.

“Some 96 developing countries have not met the vaccination target set by the WHO (World Health Organization) to vaccinate 40 percent of the population. On the other hand, millions of vaccines have expired in developed countries,” he added.

He emphasized that the handling of the pandemic must be comprehensive and touch all parts of the world.

“Indonesia is the country with the 5th largest number of vaccinations in the world as of December 9, 2021,” he informed.

Source: Antara News