Day: March 28, 2022

Mosque and musalla (prayer room) managers must set up a health protocol monitoring task force, in view of the increase in religious activities during Ramadan, spokesperson for the COVID-19 handling task force, Wiku Adisasmito, said.

“The COVID-19 Handling Task Force still has rules; every public facility, including places of worship such as mosques and musallas, must have a health protocol task force,” he stated during an FMB9 online discussion on worship and food preparation during Ramadan, which was accessed from here on Monday.

The increase in prayer activities in mosques and musallas during Ramadan must be followed with strict health protocols, he added. Otherwise, COVID-19 transmission could become a threat to people.

Mosque managers must conduct body temperature checks and urge people to continue to wear masks and maintain a safe distance, he said.

That way, virus transmission can be prevented, and people can carry out worship activities well during Ramadan, he added.

The government has eased a number of restrictions for Ramadan due to the controlled rate of COVID-19 transmission. The relaxations include permission for people to undertake Eid mudik (exodus), with the condition that they have completed primary vaccinations or have received the booster dose; travel without PCR test; and carry out various religious activities.

However, the easing of restrictions must be balanced with the implementation of strict health protocols.

The community must make health protocol compliance a shared responsibility. Efforts to reduce the rate of COVID-19 transmission cannot be undertaken by the government alone; collective awareness is needed in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the spokesperson expounded.

The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Indonesia in March 2020. According to data from the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, as of March 28, 2022, Indonesia has recorded a total of 5,995,876 COVID-19 cases, 5,702,163 recoveries, and 154,570 deaths.

Source: Antara News

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology stated that vaccination was not a requirement for schools to conduct either limited face-to-face learning (PTM) or assessment activities.

“Additional conditions, such as vaccinations, that are not in accordance with the joint decree of four ministers are not allowed,” Secretary General of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Suharti noted in a written statement received here, Monday.

This decision is based on the Joint Decree of the Minister of Education and Culture, Minister of Religion, Minister of Health, and the Minister of Home Affairs (SKB 4 Ministers) regarding guidelines for the implementation of learning in the COVID-19 pandemic period that will take effect on December 21, 2021.

In organizing learning activities during the COVID-19 pandemic, local governments and education units must refer to the provisions in the joint decree of four ministers and are not allowed to add requirements for the implementation of learning activities.

Suharti also remarked that the implementation of limited PTM must follow the provisions in the joint decree of the four ministers.

“We hope that the COVID-19 condition in Indonesia would improve. It is also important for the education office and schools to ensure that learning for all students can be safe and comfortable. The implementation of PTM must follow the guidelines in the joint decree from four ministers,” she remarked.

Moreover, the government will continue to encourage COVID-19 vaccination for all citizens in the field of education, especially teachers and education personnel. However, student vaccination has never become a requirement for the implementation of PTM.

According to the Circular of the Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, Number 3 of 2022, parents or guardians of students are given the option to allow their children to partake in limited PTM or Distance Learning (PJJ).

The government will also play a role in supervising and providing guidance on the implementation of limited PTM, especially in terms of disseminating information on the implementation of safe limited PTM to parents and guardians of students. Strict application of health protocols by educational units should also be ensured and behavioral surveys of compliance with health protocols and epidemiological surveillance in education units should also be conducted.

The local governments also accelerate COVID-19 vaccination for educators, education staff, and students. In addition, it is necessary to ensure the handling of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in educational units as well as to ensure the temporary suspension of limited PTM based on the results of epidemiological surveillance in accordance with the provisions in the Four Ministerial Decree.

With the enactment of the latest circular, the Circular Letter of the Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Number 2 of 2022 on discretion for the implementation of the Joint Decree of the Four Ministers concerning guidelines for the implementation of learning during the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is then declared invalid.

“The ministry is upbeat that all parties would work together to restore learning activities, so students can avail their rights to receive proper education. This has become our shared responsibility to conduct safe and comfortable PTM,” she noted.

Source: Antara News

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has said that the synchronization of global health protocols could begin with G20 countries to enable smoother application and make international travel easier.

“We can start from the G20. That way it will facilitate the adoption of this health protocol standard in other countries,” Minister Sadikin said during a G20 Health Working Group press conference on ‘Harmonizing Global Health Protocol Standards’ in Yogyakarta on Monday.

The measure is aimed at ensuring that there are unified standards with regard to regulations on PCR tests and quarantine, among others, which differ from country to country currently.

The minister said that health protocol standards for international travel can be changed, just like the global immigration system.

He further said he is confident that the adoption of global health protocol standards can be achieved given the current state of digital technology development.

So far, Indonesia has held bilateral discussions with Saudi Arabia to integrate PeduliLindungi with the Tawakkalna application.

Indonesia has also held discussions with ASEAN Communities and a number of European countries to integrate the PeduliLindungi application so the same regulatory standards on PCR, quarantine, and others can be applied.

That way, people can still travel around the world while adopting a healthy and cautious approach, he opined.

According to Digital Health Technology Unit head of the World Health Organization, Garret Mehl, it is possible to integrate digital health document applications.

“I might call it a health card in digital format. We could see a digital version of a vaccination card or a lab test result card, and ideally, it would be something that would be worth using if there was another pandemic,” he said.

Thus, an equal technological infrastructure would be important in every country, as a digital-based health record, he added.

Source: Antara News

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has said he expects the healthcare sector to form stronger and better linkages between countries in the midst of rampant geopolitical issues.

“Indeed, geopolitical issues are currently on the rise. Health is (a) universal (issue), so supposedly, the (members of the) healthcare sector should unite and work together,” Minister Sadikin said at a press conference of the G20 Health Working Group meeting on ‘Harmonizing Global Health Protocol Standards,’ in Yogyakarta on Monday.

Each country has a different economic capacity, and this greatly influences international policies, he added.

On top of that, the political views of each country are also different, which determines their international interactions.

“However, if there are problems regarding health, (or) humanity, then our approach must be more universal; not sectoral, (as in considering things) such as ideology, politics, and others,” the minister said in response to questions about the tensions in Ukraine.

The director of the Center of Economic and Law Studies, Bhima Yudhistira, had urged Indonesia to take advantage of its G20 Presidency to contribute to mediation efforts to resolve the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

“What Indonesia should be able to do is conduct negotiations or mediation so that a more severe conflict between Ukraine and Russia can be prevented,” he said.

Yudhistira emphasized that the measure is crucial, given that the conflict between Ukraine and Russia is affecting global efforts to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Creating momentum for recovery from the social, health, and economic perspectives is the goal of the G20 Presidency of Indonesia themed, ‘Recover Together Recover Stronger.’

Source: Antara News

Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo underlined the importance of fixing the health system in Indonesia while speaking to district heads and mayors during the 2022 Healthy Cities Summit here on Monday.

The event involved representatives from ministries or institutions in 34 provinces and 514 districts/cities, both from the government and Healthy Province/District/City Forums across Indonesia.

“In order to build collective awareness, they try to respond to health issues nationally through the actions of district heads or mayors. Their enthusiasm is extraordinary,” Pranowo said.

The governor also highlighted the rise in maternal deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic due to exposure to the Delta variant of the coronavirus.

“Let us try to anticipate it so that they and pregnant mothers can receive full attention,” he said.

If the mothers are healthy, then babies will be born healthy. This can be prepared from the start with good data and attention, he remarked.

The 2022 Healthy City Summit is expected to support the government’s work in formulating health-related policies, Pranowo noted.

“Because, as it turns out, building our health awareness does not always have to be done through the top-down method,” he said.

“It can also be done in a bottom-up manner from district heads or mayors’ ideas that I believe are great,” he added.

This can alleviate the government’s burden because, during the post-pandemic period, there will be policies with new models and scientific data that have to be realized, he opined.

Meanwhile, head of Association of the Indonesia Municipalities (Apeksi) and Bogor Mayor, Bima Arya, said the event is a sign that the COVID-19 situation has started to become normal.

“This is the time for us to collaborate and to discover new knowledge and concepts. Health discussion is not just limited to equipment, but also experience and observing the latest data,” he added.

“We hope that the Omicron is the last one. We should hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Everyone should be responsive toward that,” he said.

Source: Antara News

At least 72.89 percent of spectators of the Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia or MotoGP 2022 in Mandalika, Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara are millennials, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno has said.

“In addition to West Nusa Tenggara, Jakarta and West Java were the provinces where most of the 2022 Mandalika MotoGP visitors came from,” he informed during a weekly press briefing here on Monday.

Furthermore, at least 60.61 percent of Pertamina Grand Prix visitors used airplanes as the main mode of transportation and 22.73 percent used private transportation, he said while sharing the results of a survey conducted by the ministry.

During the event, hotels and homestays were the main choices of accommodation, with the average stay recorded at 4.2 days, he added.

On average, visitors spent more than Rp10 million in Lombok, Uno informed.

“Some 75.8 percent of respondents said they were very satisfied with the 2022 Mandalika MotoGP series,” he said.

Regarding visitor satisfaction, hospitality and visitor destinations got the highest satisfaction rating compared to other supporting factors.

Meanwhile, local hygiene and transportation received the lowest satisfaction rating.

Further, 88.7 percent of the respondents said they planned to attend other MotoGP events next season.

Some factors that need to be evaluated on the implementation of the Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia are transportation systems, including shuttle buses, and parking management, which they felt needed improvement, Uno said.

Moreover, the unfinished infrastructure of the Mandalika Circuit ecosystem was also seen by respondents as a problem, so it is expected that the racing venue will be more ready next year.

The management and human resources were also considered as being unfamiliar with international events, so skill improvement is necessary, he added.

Furthermore, the ticket prices were considered quite expensive for Indonesians. “Limited availability of accommodation and increasing prices became burdensome factors for the respondents,” Uno said.

Source: Antara News

The COVID-19 Handling Task Force reported that the number of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia had increased by 2,798 on Monday, thereby taking the total tally to 6,001,751.

According to the task force’s data received here on Monday, provinces that recorded the most number of cases were West Java, at 641 cases, followed by 573 cases in Jakarta, 343 cases in Banten, 235 cases in Central Java, and 148 new cases in East Java.

The number of recoveries nationwide increased by 10,301, taking the total number of recoveries to 5,724,963. Provinces that recorded the most recoveries on Monday are West Java, with 3,133 recoveries; Jakarta, 1,300 recoveries; Yogyakarta, 891 recoveries; Central Java, 607 recoveries; and East Nusa Tenggara, 576 recoveries.

Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 fatalities increased by 104 on Monday, taking the death toll to 154,774 nationally.

The task force’s data recorded that Indonesia’s active cases fell by 7,607. Therefore, as of Monday, March 28, 2022, the total number of active cases stood at 122,014 cases.

Furthermore, as many as 4,436 suspected cases were identified, while the number of tested specimens reached 129,894.

Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Handling Task Force Wiku Adisasmito reminded people to continue to comply with the health protocols despite having received the booster vaccine dose.

“I emphasize that everyone, who has been vaccinated, even with the booster vaccine, must still be disciplined in wearing masks, washing hands, and keeping (a safe) distance,” he remarked.

He highlighted that booster vaccinations and health protocols were the two keys to preventing the transmission of COVID-19.

The spokesperson explained that in an effort to control the pandemic, vaccination and health protocols have their own functions. Both must be done together in order to achieve optimal protection from COVID-19 transmission, he added.

“This is because in fact, the potential for an increase in cases still exists if booster vaccinations are not accompanied by compliance with health protocols,” he affirmed.

Source: Antara News