Day: June 14, 2022

The Indonesian Armed Forces’ (TNI’s) Health Center is still examining the COVID-19 virus that infected 43 patients at the Wisma Atlet Kemayoran COVID-19 Emergency Hospital, Head of TNI’s Health Center, Major General Budiman, stated.

Budiman’s team delivered the samples from the patients to the Ministry of Health’s Research and Development Agency to ensure whether they are the latest variants of COVID-19: BA.4 and BA.5.

“What is clear is that we treat those confirmed to be COVID-19 positive here,” he noted at Wisma Atlet Kemayoran’s Tower 1 here on Tuesday.

Some 60 percent of the 43 COVID-19 patients that receive treatment at the Wisma Atlet Kemayoran COVID-19 Emergency Hospital are international travelers, with the rest being local residents.

In addition to treating patients confirmed to be COVID-19 positive, the emergency hospital is set up by the government to serve as an isolation location.

This isolation location is intended for Jakartans and international travelers whose residences do not have spaces for self-isolation.

International travelers, who have not been completely vaccinated, must undergo quarantine.

However, those who had been completely vaccinated will be considered safe and had complied with the government’s recommendation.

Budiman also took the opportunity to draw attention to the fact that the recent rise in several cases in Indonesia aligned with the government’s forecast of a surge in cases after a long holiday.

The government had also instructed his team to always be on standby, so that the current rise is already under control.

The preparedness of the Wisma Atlet Kemayoran COVID-19 Emergency Hospital does not solely depend on the number of patients, he noted.

This is because the emergency hospital also has other roles: expediting vaccination, conducting dissemination and training, and conducting research.

Source: Antara News

The Kulon Progo District Government, Yogyakarta, has ensured that efforts to address the foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak would not interfere with the preparations of stocks of sacrificial animals in the area.

Acting Head of Kulon Progo District Tri Saktiyana noted in a statement on Tuesday that the Kulon Progo Agriculture and Food Office had undertaken measures to counter the FMD outbreak in the area in order to keep the condition under control.

Nonetheless, there was still a need for extensive dissemination of information to the public regarding the outbreak handling in order to prevent further transmission and panic.

“We still need more extensive education about FMD, so that information about FMD is (spread) in a more proportional way, because there are people, who are very, very paranoid and panicky, but there are also those who think it’s normal. It is also necessary to explain that FMD will not be transmitted to other people, but rather, it is human interactions that can transmit the disease between cows,” Saktiyana noted.

The Kulon Progo administration had made stricter preparations regarding animal distribution control to prevent animals susceptible to FMD from entering from outside the region as a means to ensure a safe Eid slaughter process during the FMD outbreak, he stated.

Moreover, the Agriculture and Food Office will assist during the slaughtering process that is also backed up by the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the Gadjah Mada University to monitor and assist the slaughtering process at animal slaughter places.

“To control FMD, animal (distribution) between regions will be monitored (in a stricter way). Animals entering Kulon Progo must be recommended (through an) animal health certificate (issued by) the agency related to the animal’s origin. Monitoring prior to the Eid slaughter will also be (conducted), as well as assistance received from the Agriculture and Food Office at animal slaughter points,” he noted.

He also said that people might do takbir (praises), but it was limited to only the village area. He also appealed to the community to ensure an orderly, safe, and secure environment during the upcoming celebration of Eid al-Adha.

Head of the Kulon Progo Agriculture and Food Service Aris Nugroho informed that the FMD outbreak case in Kulon Progo District was still under control. As of June 13, there were 307 FMD cases, majority of which were from one ranch, and the recovery rate had reached 40 percent.

“The latest data (showed) 307 sick animals, with a recovery rate of 40 percent. This shows that FMD can be cured. We urge the public to report immediately, should there be any symptoms in their livestock, (so they could) be treated immediately. In general, the 307 cases were spread only in centralized cages, he stated.

Nugroho also noted that the disease did not affect the sacrificial animals’ stock in Kulon Progo, and some of the sacrificial animals from outside Kulon Progo that were distributed to the area had been screened thoroughly.

“Until now, the stock of livestock for sacrifice is still (good),” he noted.

Source: Antara News

The Ministry of Agriculture will start the vaccination of livestock against foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) from June 14, 2022, in a bid to curb the spread of FMD in Indonesia.

Head of the Ministry of Agriculture’s public relations and public information bureau, Kuntoro Boga Andri, said here on Monday that FMD vaccination would begin on June 14 and be carried out based on the mapping of the spread of the disease.

“The government will prepare the budget for the procurement of a total of 3 million doses of the FMD vaccine. Currently, the first batch of the vaccine (doses) has arrived on Sunday, June 12, 2022, via Soekarno-Hatta Airport. Then, 800 thousand doses will arrive in the next few days,” he informed.

The vaccine doses would be prioritized for healthy animals that are at high risk of infection: animals at livestock breeding centers, community-owned dairy farms, dairy cooperatives, and beef cattle farms, Andri said.

The Ministry of Agriculture has predicted that 17 million livestock will receive the vaccine, or around 80 percent of the livestock population in provinces affected by the disease. The livestock will be inoculated three times: twice in 2022 and once in 2023.

The ministry, through its Veterinary Pharmacy Center (Pusvetma), is also preparing a locally-produced vaccine, which is expected to be completed by the end of August 2022

In addition, he urged the community not to panic and worry about the availability of livestock for the Islamic ritual Qurbani (animal sacrifice) during Eid al-Adha.

“We ensure that the availability of animals for Qurbani, such as cattle, goats, and sheep, is safe. This refers to the number of Qurbani animals needed last year, which reached 1.5 million heads,” he said.

Despite the FMD outbreak currently occurring in the country, the government is optimistic that the current stock of animals for Qurbani is sufficient for the Eid al-Adha ritual.

“We emphasize that FMD is not harmful to human health and the facts on the field show that FMD can be cured,” he stressed.

Source: Antara News

The number of cases of the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of Omicron in Indonesia reached 20 as of Tuesday, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health Mohammad Syahril informed.

“As of today, there are 20 cases of Omicron subvariants consisting of two cases of BA.4 and 18 cases of BA.5,” he confirmed via text message here on Tuesday.

Thus, the number of cases increased by 12 from the previously reported 8 cases.

The BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants were first detected in Indonesia in four people in May 2022. The Ministry of Health received the results of the genome sequencing study related to this finding on June 9.

Separately, director of the post-graduate program at YARSI University, Prof. Tjandra Yoga Aditama, said the transmission rate of BA.4 and BA.5 in Indonesia is estimated to have increased fivefold in recent days.

According to the latest information from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) released on Monday (June 13), the BA.4 and BA.5 were first discovered in South Africa in January and February 2022.

BA.4 and BA.5 are part of the Omicron clade (B.1.1.529), he noted. The ECDC upgraded classification of BA.4 and BA.5 from “variants of interest” to “variants of concern (VOC)” on May 12.

“They are expected to be dominant in Europe in the coming weeks,” he added.

Aditama, the former director of infectious diseases of WHO Southeast Asia, said that any potential increase in cases will depend on people’s immunity, which is related to vaccination coverage and the timing of previous vaccination.

“Our health workers received the booster more than six months ago,” he pointed out.

He affirmed that so far, there has been no scientific evidence to show that the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants cause higher severity than the previous variants. “But we have to be very careful about the increase in hospitalization among those aged over 60 or 65 years,” he added.

Source: Antara News

The family of West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil expressed gratitude for the support and encouragement offered by various parties over the disappearance and death of Kamil’s eldest son, Emmeril Kahn Mumtadz.

Family representative Elpi Nazmuzzaman stated that the family is overwhelmed by the support from various parties expressed through various mediums.

“Sympathetic statements (expressed) in various forms that we have accepted encourage us and have touched us,” Nazmuzzaman, Kamil’s younger brother, stated at the governor’s official residence, Gedung Pakuan, here on Tuesday.

He said that a total of 1,200 condolence wreaths were received by the family from various parties conveying their condolences over the death of Mumtadz.

Moreover, some eight thousand mourners attended Mumtadz’s funeral in Cimaung Village, Bandung District, on Monday (Jun 13), and residents ceaselessly visited the official residence for the last 17 days to express their condolences and attend Quran recitation sessions organised for Mumtadz, the family representative noted.

“We do not intend to exaggerate the number, but I must say that we might be struggling to convey our gratitude,” Nazmuzzaman remarked.

He also expressed his family’s gratitude to the Ulemas and Islamic clerics that welcomed the family that sought assistance on Mumtadz’s death and suggested ways to cope and handle the situation according to the Islamic faith.

“(They have assisted us) in handling the deceased in an extraordinary situation, in terms of the funeral aspect, and how to cope when (Mumtadz’s body) had not yet been found,” he stated.

The family will cease informing the public about Mumtadz following the conclusion of his funeral on Monday, he stated, adding that the congregational prayer activities for Mumtadz will continue for several days.

“While now, Ridwan Kamil is preparing himself to return to his duty as governor,” Nazmuzzaman added.

Source: Antara News