Category: Self Care

Jakarta (ANTARA) – A total of 120,924 patients treated at the Wisma Atlet Emergency Hospital in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta have recovered as of Monday, an increase of 255 patients from Sunday, August 8, 2021.

A spokesperson of the Joint Regional Defense Command I Marine Colonel Aris Mudian noted in a written statement obtained here that March 23 to August 9 at 8 a.m. local time, the facility has recorded a total of 124,265 registered patients, with 122,486 outgoing patients.

The figure comprised patients that recovered, while the rest constituted 981 patients referred to other hospitals, while 581 patients had succumbed to the disease.

Data indicated 1,779 inpatients, comprising 886 males and 893 females. Hence, there were 98 fewer patients as compared to previous data.

“Four towers — 4, 5, 6, and 7 — house the inpatients,” Mudian noted.

He additionally informed of the latest updates from several other hospitals, such as the Nagrak Apartment COVID-19 Emergency Hospital. As per Monday, 8:00 local time, some 55 patients were receiving treatment.

On the other hand, the Pasar Rumput Apartment COVID-19 Emergency Hospital was offering treatment to 280 patients, a decrease from 335 people recorded earlier.

He also furnished data on the Galang Island Infectious Disease Hospital, Riau Island.

As of April 12, 2020, until Monday, August 9, 2021, the Galang Island Infectious Disease Hospital had 15,371 registered patients, comprising 7,822 patients that recovered and 7,297 suspects that had completed treatment.

“There are 210 hospitalized patients comprising 137 men and 73 women,” he revealed.

Source: Antara News

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has removed the rules on implementation of paid COVID-19 vaccinations for individuals that were earlier contained in the provisions on the Gotong Royong vaccination.

Sadikin informed that abolition of the provision was stipulated in Health Ministerial Regulation No. 23 of 2021 on the third amendment to Regulation of the Minister of Health No. 10 of 2021 concerning the implementation of vaccination in the framework of countering the COVID-19 pandemic.

“With this change, the implementation of COVID-19 vaccination remains the same as the earlier process. The vaccine is given free to all Indonesians through the National COVID-19 Vaccination Program by the government, and the Gotong Royong Vaccination Program by (private) companies,” Sadikin stated in a ministry’s press release received here on Monday.

The provisions on paid vaccination services for individuals in the Gotong Royong vaccination scheme are stipulated in Ministerial Regulation No. 19 of 2021 on the second amendment to Ministerial Regulation No. 10 of 2021 concerning the implementation of vaccination in the framework of countering the COVID-19 pandemic, he expounded.

Citing the new provisions of the Gotong Royong vaccination services by the company, Sadikin clarified that they only administered the Sinopharm vaccine. “The Gotong Royong vaccination has a target to cover about 7.5 million people over the age of 18,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Sadikin noted that the National COVID-19 Vaccination Program had targeted over 200 million Indonesians, and the government had administered vaccines of Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer, Sinopharm, and Novavax .

Furthermore, the Indonesian Health Ministry’s spokesperson for COVID-19 Vaccination Program Siti Nadia Tarmizi made assurance of sufficient vaccine stocks to meet the regional demand.

“We have adequate stocks of vaccine. However, please note that all targets cannot be vaccinated simultaneously, as vaccine doses also arrive gradually,” Tarmizi stated here on August 5, 2021.

According to the Ministry of Communication and Informatics’ (Kominfo’s) data, until August 3, 2021, Indonesia had received 179 million vaccine doses comprising 144.7 million doses of bulk vaccine and 34.7 million doses of ready-to-use vaccine.

Source: Antara News

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Ministry of Communication and Informatics has drawn special attention to three priority issues for the 2022 G20 Presidency.

“Indonesia highlights three priority issues — Post-COVID-19 pandemic recovery and connectivity; digital literacy and competency; and cross-border data flow — in the digital field for the 2022 G20 Presidency,” Communication and Informatics Minister Johnny G. Plate noted in a press statement quoted here on Monday.

Indonesia is scheduled to assume the G20 presidency in 2022 for the ministerial meeting on the digital sector.

These issues mirror the theme of Indonesia’s upcoming G20 Presidency: “Recover Together, Recover Stronger.”

“The Indonesian government emphasizes the development of start-ups as a catalyst for accelerating economic recovery. In this context, Indonesia is continuing one of Italy’s programs in G20 that is Digital Innovation League as the Digital Innovation Network,” Plate pointed out.

Digital Innovation League will facilitate start-ups to expand their reach, build collaboration, and boost the possibility of cooperating with the best venture capital in all of G20 members.

Moreover, in a bid to raise digital competency and literacy, Indonesia will strengthen the digital ecosystem through digital businesses and digital citizens’ empowerment.

“As a form of our effort, Indonesia aims to develop the G20 document to assess digital competency and digital literacy. This document provides a framework to identify the digital competency required by citizens and the industry, and it acts as a reference document for all members,” Plate expounded.

In connection with the third issue, Indonesia will facilitate discussions to bridge the viewpoints of various G20 members on cross-border data flow and data free flow with trust.

“Indonesia will also review different viewpoints regarding the principles of transparency, validity, fairness, and reciprocity as well as how to apply them to this issue,” Plate emphasized.

Source: Antara News

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno on Monday visited the vaccination center at Terminal 3 (T3) of the Soekarno Hatta (Soetta) International Airport, which was set up to support the national vaccination program.

“I appreciate the collaboration between state-owned airport operator AP (Angkasa Pura) II, Traveloka, and the Health Ministry. To achieve herd immunity, we need to collaborate,” he said in a written statement received here on Monday.

Furthermore, he said that the nation’s vaccination program aims to reach two million vaccinations per day, as announced by President Joko Widodo.

He lauded the establishment of a vaccine center at the airport, saying it was a good innovation for helping tourists and citizens get vaccinated easily.

Currently, the government is preparing to integrate the PeduliLindung application with vaccination data from all regions, he noted.

In the future, he said, the mobility of residents, such as to restaurants, tourist attractions, and public places, will depend on their vaccination status. They will be asked to show a vaccine certificate in such places, he added. “The vaccine center at this airport needs to be appreciated because not many airports abroad offer vaccination centers,” he remarked.

The minister said that the acceleration of vaccinations in the country has continued to improve. Stocks of medicines, vaccine doses, and oxygen have also continued to increase, he added.

Therefore, with more vaccination centers established, it is hoped that the country will achieve community immunity, and the economy will recover in order to create more employment opportunities, Uno said.

In a bid to reduce COVID-19 transmission and build herd immunity, the Indonesian government launched a nationwide vaccination program on January 13, 2021.

According to data provided by the Health Ministry, as of August 9, 2021, 51,396,079 Indonesians have received the first dose of vaccine and 24,888,506 citizens have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Source: Antara News

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA) has said it will ensure that children who lose their parents due to COVID-19 get the level of care they need.

“We have made a data management protocol and foster protocol for children infected and affected by COVID-19; children whose parents/caregivers/guardians are infected by COVID-19; as well as children whose parents have died because of COVID-19,” PPPA Minister Bintang Puspayoga said in a press release issued here on Monday.

The ministry has also issued a circular to provincial governments on preparing data on children who are separated from their parents due to self-isolation or death so they can get assistance and care, she informed.

Furthermore, the ministry has launched a call center number (129) and WhatsApp number (08111-129-192) where people can report children whose parents have died of COVID-19, she added.

“We also continue promoting the provisions for child protection, child care, child adoption and guardianship,” the minister said. The ministry is also taking preventive measures by optimizing the #BERJARAK movement to ensure women and children are safe and protected from COVID-19, Puspayoga said.

It is also optimizing Community-Based Integrated Child Protection (PATBM) to help families adapt to new habits during the COVID-19 pandemic, she informed.

“The PATBM knows the best about the children in their community. It can coordinate community-based care or find a substitute caregiver for the children separated with their families due to COVID-19,” she said.

The ministry is also trying to optimize the role of families in protecting children from COVID-19, she informed. It is children’s right to be well-cared by their own parents or their foster families, she stressed.

Source: Antara News

Batam, Riau Islands (ANTARA) – The Batam city government in Riau Islands Province has planned to give the third or booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to health workers in stages, the city’s mayor, Muhammad Rudi, said here on Monday.

The third vaccine dose for health workers had a high potency and there could possibly be adverse effects following immunization (AEFI), he said.

To maintain the service capacity in hospitals, health workers are advised to receive the booster dose gradually to avoid staff shortages in case many workers experience AEFI at the same time, he said.

“If all health workers rest (due to AEFI), hospital services can go down,” the mayor said.

For this reason, he said his administration has decided on the policy of vaccinating a third of medical workers in hospitals first and then immunizing others after a three-day gap.

Batam will begin administering vaccine boosters to health workers on Tuesday (August 10, 2021). ANTARA has earlier reported that Batam is targeting to inoculate a total of 5,548 health workers under its vaccination drive.

So far, 8,964 health workers in the city, or 161.57 percent of the target, have got vaccinated. Some 8,725 health workers, or 157.25 percent of the targeted workers, have received the second dose, or have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin had earlier assured that vaccinated health workers in the country would be offered a third or booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to strengthen their immune response.

The Health Ministry has issued the Director-General of Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Circular Letter HK.02.01/1/1919/2021 on the third dose of vaccination for all health workers, assistant health workers, and support workers involved in offering health services at facilities.

Source: Antara News

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Jakarta Health Office has appealed to breastfeeding women to get vaccinated to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

“If you look at the current conditions, considering the risk of not being vaccinated against being vaccinated. Of course, the choice is getting vaccinated,” Head of the Public Health Division of the Jakarta Health Office Fify Mulyani said during a discussion on exclusive breastfeeding here on Monday.

According to Mulyani, it can be dangerous for breastfeeding women if they contract COVID-19 and experience severe symptoms.

Meanwhile, the side-effects of vaccination are typically the same as those experienced by people who are not breastfeeding, such as fever, soreness around the injection area, sleepiness, and other common post-immunization complaints, she said.

“The benefits of being vaccinated for breastfeeding women are greater than the risks,” she noted.

Therefore, breastfeeding mothers are urged to register at the community health centers (Puskesmas) or through the Jaki application to schedule a vaccination, she added. Earlier, an official from the Indonesian Pediatric Society (IDAI), Wiyarni Pambudi, had revealed that increased immunity had been seen in breastfeeding mothers who had received the COVID-19 vaccination.

In fact, their antibody levels increased 14 days after the first dose was injected, she added.

“In mothers who had been vaccinated against COVID-19, it was found that levels of specific antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in breast milk increased rapidly within 14 days after the first dose of vaccination, getting stronger after week four and measurably higher at weeks 5 and 6,” she explained.

Meanwhile, breastfeeding mothers who are confirmed positive for COVID-19 can still exclusively breastfeed their babies, she said.

Research has shown that breast milk in COVID-19 positive mothers has a high antibody content, she explained.

”In mothers who are confirmed positive, it turns out that their breast milk contains immunoglobulin A and G, lactalbumin, lactoferrin, which specifically can give protection against SARS-CoV-2. This is what is called natural passive immunization, which COVID-19 positive mothers give to their babies,” Pambudi explained.

Source: Antara News

Palembang, South Sumatra (ANTARA) – The South Sumatra Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) intensified efforts to dampen peatlands to reduce damage from wildfires during the peak of the August dry season throughout the province.

“We have received reports of conflagrations engulfing tens of hectares of peatlands. If we delay the land wetting process, more peatlands will burn, and smog disasters may ensue,” South Sumatra BPBD Emergency Mitigation Department Head Ansori stated in Palembang on Monday.

The BPBD had earlier dispatched its personnel to engage, on land and in the air, to map farms, forests and peatlands at high risk of wildfires, with support from the regional wildfire mitigation joint task force, Ansori said.

Dry areas and areas tagged as hot spots are dampened by using the closest water sources, such as rivers or lakes, and extinguishing efforts are done to areas currently engulfed in flames, he added. By taking those mitigation steps, Ansori expected wildfires that occurred within recent months could be controlled without causing a conflagration affecting hundreds of hectares of land and resulting in smog disasters.

Based on recent data, some 90 hectares of peatlands in the region are currently on fire, with regions affected by wildfires including Ogan Ilir, Banyuasin, Musi Banyuasin, Pali, and Ogan Komering Ulu Districts.

To prevent wildfires from spreading, the agency also expected residents to assist in guarding peatland, farms, and forests located close to their homes.

“By those efforts, we hope South Sumatra’s forests, peatlands, and farms are saved from wildfires and smog disasters could be averted during the peak of the dry season on this year,” Ansori added.

Source: Antara News