Day: January 6, 2022

Deputy Governor of Jakarta Ahmad Riza Patria confirmed that face-to-face learning at 100-percent capacity in Jakarta had been conducted smoothly despite the rise in Omicron cases.

“Until today, no significant problems have been encountered. There have been no cases (of Omicron transmission in schools) until today,” Patria stated at the Jakarta City Hall, Thursday.

According to the deputy governor, 100 percent face-to-face learning in Jakarta is being implemented with adherence to stricter health protocols and supported by high vaccination coverage.

The community also welcomed the implementation of face-to-face learning as was reflected in the high rate of the students’ attendance.

“Parents are happy that their children can come back to school. Children are even happier because they can meet their teachers and learn well,” he noted.

Patria is optimistic that the implementation of 100 percent face-to-face learning would serve as an answer to the challenges presented by online learning.

The Provincial Government of Jakarta recorded that as many as 10,429 schools in the capital had begun implementing face-to-face learning, with 100-percent capacity in early 2022.

The Jakarta Health Office had earlier noted an increase in the number of active cases and people confirmed positive for COVID-19.

On a separate occasion, Head of the Jakarta Health Office Widyastuti remarked that most of the new positive cases of COVID-19 in the capital, which increased in recent days, were imported cases of people, who had traveled abroad.

“We need to be aware of the transmission,” she noted here, Wednesday.

Widyastuti remarked that as of January 5, 2022, the number of active cases — people undergoing treatment and isolation — had reached 908. As many as 661 of the total, or 73 percent, are those who had recently traveled overseas.

Meanwhile, the number of confirmed positive cases increased by 259, with 211 of them, or 81 percent, also being people, who had recently arrived in the country after traveling abroad.

The number of cases of the Omicron variant had reached 251, with 95 percent, or 239 of them being imported cases, while the rest 12 cases being of local transmission.

Source: Antara News

Health diplomacy remains Indonesia’s priority program for 2022, including efforts to indigenously produce vaccines, Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi has stressed.

“Indonesia must be able to produce its own vaccines and become a hub for vaccine production in the region. Indonesia must have the ability to make its own medicines and meet (the supply of) drug raw materials,” she said while delivering her annual press statement (PPTM) here on Thursday.

To achieve this goal, long-term cooperation is required to strengthen the national health infrastructure and the distribution of drugs and vaccines, she added.

According to the minister, the government has also bolstered vaccine manufacturing through research development and networks such as the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

Throughout 2021, various diplomatic endeavors were carried out to meet the vaccine needs of the Indonesian people, Marsudi said.

By the end of December 2021, Indonesia had administered more than 270 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine — the achievement was the fifth highest in the world after China, India, the United States, and Brazil, she added.

More than 20.15 percent of the vaccines received by Indonesia came through the COVAX Facility and dose-sharing schemes with friendly countries, she noted.

“On December 22, 2021, Indonesia has met the WHO’s (World Health Organization) target by fully vaccinating 40 percent of its population. The next challenge is to reach 70 percent of the total population (for full vaccination) by mid-2022,” the minister explained.

Indonesia is also serving as a co-chair on the COVAX Advance Market Commitment Engagement Group, which has fought for equitable vaccine access for all countries since 2019, she pointed out.

Amidst many predicaments, COVAX has distributed 811 million doses of vaccines to 144 countries and entities as of the end of last year, she informed.

Marsudi further said she viewed the new pandemic treaty, which is currently being negotiated under the WHO framework, as imminent.

“Indonesia is ready to contribute constructively to the negotiation process of the pandemic treaty. Also, new health funding mechanisms for developing countries must be created,” she asserted.

Source: Antara News

The Indonesian government has invited people included in the category to receive a COVID-19 vaccine booster to increase the body’s immunity to protect against the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in public places.

Minister of Communication and Informatics Johnny G. Plate remarked that vaccine boosters to prevent COVID-19 have proven to be safe and effective to help strengthen the body from mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 viruses.

“Vaccine boosters are safe and effective in increasing the body’s immunity. Let us take the opportunity to receive this third dose of vaccine as an effort to maintain health, especially amid the emergence of the Omicron variant, with the implementation of health protocols as well,” Plate noted in a written statement on Thursday.

Plate remarked that clinical trials conducted by the government indicated that giving vaccine boosters to research subjects did not cause side effects or severe post-immunization incidents (KIPI).

Under current conditions, the government recommends that vaccine booster recipients receive their third dose after six months or more since their previous COVID-19 vaccination.

“According to President Joko Widodo’s direction, the booster vaccination program for COVID-19 is planned to start on January 12,” he noted.

Plate also drew attention to the two schemes of vaccine booster distribution in Indonesia: the free scheme and paid scheme.

For the elderly and beneficiaries of the free Healthcare and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan PBI), the vaccine booster can be accessed for free.

Meanwhile, the paid scheme applies to non-elderly citizens, who are not included in the BPJS PBI.

In its implementation, the third dose of vaccine will be given to the population aged over 18 years in a district or city that has met the target of vaccination coverage by 70 percent for the first dose and 60 percent for the second dose.

The priority population groups include vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and pregnant women.

“In total, 244 districts and cities are ready to start giving the vaccine booster,” Plate remarked.

The types of vaccines and vaccine delivery schemes will await recommendations from the Indonesian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (ITAGI) and the National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM) that will be decided on January 10, 2022.

The government also informed the public that the vaccination booster may use a different brand from their previous dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

According to studies by experts, the objective behind giving a vaccine booster is to increase the body’s immunity. There will be no problem with the difference in the brand of vaccine used.

“All COVID-19 vaccines used in Indonesia were safe and efficacious. Those who have met the criteria to receive a vaccine booster, please get it. At the same time, for those who have not been vaccinated at all or have not been vaccinated twice, please complete the dose immediately,” he reminded.

Source: Antara News

Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo has asked police officers to take legal action against a woman arrested in Semarang, Central Java, recently for offering herself as a “vaccine jockey”.

“Those vaccine jockeys are hindering government efforts in protecting the people against COVID-19. We warn others not to offer themselves as vaccine jockeys,” Pranowo said here on Thursday.

The governor denounced individuals who, for economic or other personal reasons, are becoming proxies for others and taking COVID-19 shots.

Vaccination drives are not merely an effort to reach the target quota but also to protect the people against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the Governor stressed.

“We should not be tempted by money or opportunity, then offer ourselves as a vaccine jockey. We must remember that vaccination is not merely to fulfill a statistical quota, but also to protect the people’s health,” Pranowo said.

He urged residents who are reluctant to get vaccinated to seek an opinion from a health expert and those who are afraid of taking the vaccine to seek more information.

“Are you afraid of getting the injection? No worries, some children are even crying before being injected. But once they get the injection, the pain is just for several seconds. It would be a pity if some people are afraid of the injection needle and then decide not to get their vaccine,” the governor remarked.

Apart from pushing public education and consultation to get more residents to take the vaccine, Pranowo also asked police officers to take legal action if they detect another “vaccine jockey”.

Earlier, officers from Semarang regional police arrested DS, aged 41, for offering herself as a “vaccine jockey” at the Manyaran public health center in West Semarang.

Her ploy was discovered after a health worker at the public health center noticed a discrepancy in data provided by her during vaccination screening on Monday (January 3, 2022).

After the arrest, DS told police that she was offered Rp500 thousand (US$34.5) to serve as a substitute for another person who did not wish to get vaccinated. (INE)

Source: Antara News

Vice President Ma’ruf Amin on Thursday enquired about the provision of clean water at permanent housing for survivors of the earthquake, tsunami, and liquefaction in Palu city and Sigi district, Central Sulawesi.

“For the time being, where does the water come from?” he asked when he heard a report on the progress of clean water source development for the earthquake, tsunami, and liquefaction survivors from the head of the Sulawesi III River Region Office, Taufik, in Palu on Thursday.

He raised the query after hearing that the construction of a clean water source for the residents was still in progress.

Taufik told him that clean water was currently being supplied by constructing wells.

Currently, the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry is still building clean water facilities for residents, which will source water from Saluki River, Sigi district, he informed.

“(It will have a capacity of) 600 liters per second, which is currently under construction. The water (will be sourced) from Saluki River,” he said.

The ministry aims to complete the construction by 2023, he added

Clean water for inhabitants of permanent residences will be sourced from different rivers, such as water for permanent housing in Pombewe, Sigi district, will be sourced from Paneki River, with a capacity of 25 liters per second, he explained.

“This is nearing the completion of the construction of the water (source) infrastructure,” Taufik said.

The permanent housing in Duyu village, BWSS III Central Sulawesi draws water from Lewara River, with a capacity of 20 liters per second, he added.

“It is a temporary process, the work will be auctioned off in 2022,” he said.

Clean water for permanent housing residents in Tondo I and II will be sourced from Poboya River, with a capacity of 60 liters per second, he informed.

“This will also be auctioned in 2022,” he added.

Source: Antara News

The Indonesian Health Ministry confirmed it was investigating the incident of data breach of millions of patients on their servers that were sold on dark web forums.

“We are assessing the problems that occurred and (currently) evaluating our systems,” Chief Digital Transformation Officer at the Ministry of Health Setiaji noted in a text message to ANTARA here on Thursday.

When contacted separately, Health Ministry’s spokesperson, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, remarked that the incident was still being probed.

Data of no less than millions of patients in various hospitals in Indonesia were allegedly breached and traded on Raidforums, a dark web forum.

Based on some information, the leaked document of 720GB was claimed to be medical information of Indonesian patients. An uploader gave away six million data samples, including full names, hospitals, patient photos, COVID-19 test results, and X-Ray scans.

The document also contained patient complaints, BPJS (healthcare) referral letters, radiology reports, laboratory test results, and approval to undergo isolation due to COVID-19.

Hackers claimed this data came from the Indonesian Ministry of Health’s centralized server on December 28, 2021.

Source: Antara News

Four indicators have pointed to an increasing trend of COVID-19 transmission in Indonesia over the past two weeks, spokesperson for the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, Wiku Adisasmito, has said.

“This increase is an early alarm, and we should set the target to control the cases, so they remain controlled,” he remarked at a press conference, accessed from here on Thursday.

The first indicator is the number of daily confirmed cases, which has reached 404, he informed. That number has shown a relatively high increase compared to two weeks ago, when daily cases were recorded at 136, he said.

The second indicator is the number of daily active cases, which has increased over the last week.

“If last week the number of active cases was 4,300 cases, as of January 5, 2022, the number of active cases has increased to 4,800,” he informed.

The third indicator is the positivity rate, which has increased from 0.07 percent to 0.19 percent, he said.

Meanwhile, the fourth indicator is the occupancy rate of isolation beds, which has increased from 1.38 percent to 3.35 percent, he added.

Adisasmito said the increase in the four indicators shows that there has been an increase in COVID-19 transmission in the community.

Despite an increase in four indicators, two other indicators have shown a downward trend: the daily death rate and ICU bed occupancy rate (BOR), the spokesperson revealed.

He noted that the death toll, which was at eight deaths per day, has dropped to four deaths per day.

Meanwhile, the ICU BOR, which was at 3.95 percent, has reduced to 3.23 percent now, he said.

The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Indonesia in March 2020. According to data provided by the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, as of January 6, 2022, at least 4,264,669 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the country, while 4,115,358 people have recovered, and 144,116 people have succumbed to the virus.

Source: Antara News

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, has lauded the launch of the National Police’s quarantine monitoring application named Presisi, saying it will support the monitoring of international travelers undergoing quarantine.

At the application’s launch event, held by the National Police at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Tangerang, Banten, on Thursday, he said that the application could help reduce Omicron transmission in Indonesia.

“The initiative from the police chief is excellent. The monitoring application is very helpful as well as can help our nation stay disciplined,” he said in a written statement here on Thursday.

Pandjaitan said that the application reflects the cohesive handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia.

“We do not need to be overly paranoid (about the pandemic), but we still have to be careful,” the minister remarked.

Meanwhile, National Police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo said the launch of the Presisi application was a follow-up to President Joko Widodo’s directives to carry out strict surveillance of international travelers arriving in the country.

Furthermore, the National Police chief said that even though for the past 170 days, the rate of COVID-19 transmission has remained under control, the government does not want any laxity.

“We see that in general, for approximately 170 days, the COVID-19 situation in Indonesia has remained under control. However, if we become careless, a potential surge in COVID-19 cases can occur,” he noted.

The Presisi application launch was also attended by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, and head of the State Intelligent Agency (BIN), Budi Gunawan.

Source: Antara News