INDONESIA BUILDS HOSPITALS, QUARANTINE CENTERS IN FIGHT AGAINST COVID-19 PANDEMIC by Fardah

Jakarta, April 3, 2020 (ANTARA) - Indonesia's government has expedited efforts to ready emergency hospitals and quarantine centers by constructing new buildings or reassigning existing ones, including former refugee camps and athlete hostels, against a worse-case scenario of coronavirus (COVID-19) transmission.

As of April 3, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Indonesia, the world’s fourth-most populous nation of over 270 million, had reached 1,790, with 170 patients succumbing to the infection and 112 patients recovering from it. The first two confirmed coronavirus cases were announced on March 2, 2020.

Globally, the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus, which first emerged in China's town of Wuhan in December, 2019, jumped to 1,015,728, with 53,202 people dying of the disease and 212,991 fully recovering.

Given the swift spike in infections, Indonesia’s government has declared large-scale social distancing measures nationwide, banning foreigners from entering the country, urging people to stay at home, closing schools and amusement centers, and restricting citizens’ movement.

Hundreds of hospitals across Indonesia have been assigned to function as referral hospitals for COVID-19 treatment, while several other buildings have been converted into emergency hospitals or quarantine centers.

The government has constructed major infectious disease observation and quarantine facilities as well as a research center at the former Vietnamese refugee camp of Galang Island, Batam City, Riau Islands Province.

While visiting Galang Island on April 2, 2020, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said the new emergency hospital on Galang Island will be ready to treat COVID-19 cases, and it will continue to handle infectious diseases and conduct research after the pandemic ends.

"We have planned and prepared everything. We hope it (more cases) do not surface, but at least, we are ready," Jokowi, accompanied by Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono and National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Chief Lt Gen. Doni Monardo, stated.

The hospital’s construction work began on March 8, 2020, and the authorities plan to commence operations from April 6, 2020.

The Galang infectious disease hospital has 360 beds, 20 ICU isolation beds, and 30 non-ICU isolation beds.

The Galang Island facilities, divided into three zones, span 16 hectares. Zone A can accommodate employees, doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers; Zone B includes the main building housing an isolation room with 20 beds and an observation building with 340 beds and laboratories; while Zone C is for non-ICU treatment, with 30 beds and observation rooms. The emergency hospital also has three helipads.

In addition to the Galang Island facilities, the government has converted two athlete hostels used to accommodate thousands of athletes during the Asian Games held simultaneously in Jakarta and Palembang, South Sumatra, in 2018.

The number of inpatients at the Wisma Atlet Emergency Hospital located in Kemayoran, Jakarta, burgeoned to 449 as of April 2, from 432 on the previous day.

"The inpatients comprised 276 men and 173 women," Brigadier General M. Saleh, deputy of the hospital's Combined Joint Task Force, noted in a statement.

Of the total, 125 were confirmed patients, 242 were patients under surveillance (PDP), and 82 people under monitoring (ODP).

The Wisma Atlet Emergency Hospital, housing two towers at the Wisma Athletes (Athletes Housing), was officially inaugurated on March 23, 2020.

Maj. Gen. Eko Margiyono, head of the emergency hospital, revealed that in the event of continued rise in the number of COVID-19 positive cases, two additional towers in the building complex will be turned into treatment rooms.

In Palembang, the Jakabaring Athlete housing center has been converted into an emergency hospital, with 369 rooms and some one thousand beds. Other towers will also be readied to accommodate more patients if needed.

Currently, 72 Indonesian migrant workers coming from Malaysia and Singapore were being quarantined in Jakabaring as ODP in the fight against COVID-19.

With tens of thousands of Indonesian migrant workers returning from abroad, particularly Malaysia, the government has put in place measures for them to firstly be quarantined to monitor their health.

"The day our migrant workers arrived in Riau, our health workers checked their body temperature and sprayed disinfectant liquid over them," spokesperson for the Riau Provincial Administration's Task Force for Handling COVID-19 Indra Yovi stated recently.

In addition to migrant workers returning from abroad, domestic migrant workers also tended to go back to their villages since several of them, being micro-scale self-employed people, had lost their jobs, and they were keen on spending the holy fasting month of Ramadan and Idul Fitri Islamic festivity with their relatives in their hometowns.

Prior to Idul Fitri, an exodus of homebound travelers is usually observed from cities to rural areas across Indonesia. This year, Idul Fitri will be celebrated on May 24-25.

The government has urged Indonesians to not return to their hometowns for Idul Fitri celebrations to prevent COVID-19 transmission to rural areas. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, thousands of people began their return earlier than usual despite the appeal.

Hence, the government has ruled that people keen on returning to their hometowns, or locally called "mudik", must be quarantined for 14 days and undergo health examination in their hometowns.

On March 27, Indonesian government's spokesperson for COVID-19 response, Achmad Yurianto, urged people to not return to their hometowns to avoid the risk of spreading the contagion to more areas.

Yurianto pointed to the risk being much higher due to close contact between travelers, especially among those using means of public transportation that are crowded.

Development of Disadvantaged Regions, Villages, and Transmigration (PDTT) Minister Abdul Halim Iskandar ordered village chiefs to prepare quarantine centers to fight the coronavirus transmission.

"Schools, places of worship, village halls, or homes lent by residents can serve as isolation rooms," the PDTT minister noted in a statement on April 2, 2020.

Iskandar has issued circulars that instruct village chiefs to establish volunteer task forces against COVID-19 and village volunteer protocols in tackling the pandemic.

The COVID-19 task forces should help ready quarantine rooms replete with facilities, including for bathing and washing, as well as toilets and beds.

The isolation rooms are intended for use for villagers with ODP status, as they return from COVID-19 affected regions.

"That is because not all villagers have adequate rooms in the house. How can you isolate people if their houses have no separate rooms? The solution lies in using elementary school buildings and village halls and placing partitions to create several rooms," Iskandar noted.

ECONOMIC STIMULUS, SOCIAL SAFETY GET PRIORITY AS SLOWDOWN LOOMS by Fardah

Jakarta, March 31,  2020 - The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, declared by the WHO as a pandemic, has wreaked havoc on the global economy by disrupting supply chains, halting tourism, and triggering layoffs in several countries, including Indonesia.

Many self-employed Indonesians working in the informal sector, such as street vendors and motorcycle taxi drivers, have had to suspend their businesses on account of the virus forcing customers to stay at home.

In addition, hundreds of thousands of workers may face layoffs due to the disruption of production chains. "We are calling this a layoff emergency situation," Said Iqbal, president of the Indonesia Labor Union Confederation (KSPI) said.

On March 20, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) assured the Indonesian people that the government is ready to face the economic slowdown owing to the COVID-19 crisis.

The Indonesian government has claimed that it had put precautionary measures in place since the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak. The government's response has focused on three aspects -- safety and health; social safety net; and, economic impact.

Jokowi, who is working out of the Bogor Palace and communicating with his ministers via teleconferencing, has echoed the government’s decision to offer a social safety net and economic stimulus to MSMEs affected by the COVID-19 pandemic to help them stay afloat in the current challenging scenario.

The government will prepare an economic stimulus for MSMEs and informal businesses without delay, Jokowi remarked while chairing a limited cabinet meeting via videoconferencing in West Java, on March 30.

INDONESIAN GOVERNMENT INSISTS LOCKDOWN NOT AN OPTION YET by Fardah

Jakarta, March 31, 2020 - The question of imposing a nationwide lockdown in Indonesia is continuing to spark debate even as the authorities are weighing the pros and cons of such a move in wake of a continued rise in infections. 

As of evening on March 31, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous nation of 270 million people, had reached 1,528, with 136 patients succumbing to the infection and 81 patients recovering from it. The first two confirmed coronavirus cases were announced on March 2, 2020.

Globally, the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus, which first emerged in China’s town of Wuhan in December, 2019, have jumped to 803,313, with 39,014 persons dying of the disease and 172,657 persons making a complete recovery.

Given the rapid rise in infections, several parties have urged the Indonesian government to declare a nationwide or partial lockdown in certain regions vulnerable to the virus spread. They have referred to China’s success in containing the virus thanks to a strict lockdown in several cities.

However, those not in favor of a lockdown have cited India as an example, where a nationwide lockdown has triggered an exodus of migrants to their hometowns in rural regions, resulting in 22 deaths as the poor walked for hundreds of kilometers to reach their homes.

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has argued large-scale physical distancing is more suitable than a lockdown for Indonesia to prevent COVID-19 transmissions.

INDONESIA INTRODUCES LARGE-SCALE SOCIAL DISTANCING MEASURES by Fardah

Jakarta, March 17,  2020 -  The University of Indonesia (UI) on March 13, 2020 announced migrating from face-to-face class meetings to the online-study medium from respective homes of students until this semester ends in May 2020 to prevent the coronavirus (COVID-19) infection.

The next day, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan announced that all schools would be shut down for two weeks in Jakarta and urged students to study at home, as the number of coronavirus cases had tended to increase in the capital city.

Baswedan, the former education minister, also ordered the temporary closure of tourist attractions, such as the Ragunan Zoo, Ancol Dream Land, and Monas; halted Car-Free Day activities for 14 days; and urged Jakartans to exercise social-distancing measures by staying at home for at least two weeks.

If it is not important and unproductive, please just stay at home. This needs to be done to prevent transmission, he stated.

The next day, several other universities and regional governments followed the measures applied by the Jakarta administration. The government's offices and several private offices have also decided to apply the work-from-home mechanism.

As of March 15, Indonesia had reported 21 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the nationwide total count of infections to 117, while the number of deaths stayed at five, whereas at least eight coronavirus patients recovered and were discharged from hospital.

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi, the 76th case of COVID-19 in the country, is currently being treated in an isolation room at the Gatot Subroto Army Hospital in Jakarta. His condition is improving.

On March 11, three days before testing positive for COVID-19, the minister had attended a ministerial-level cabinet meeting led by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).

On March 15, Jokowi and his minister underwent COVID-19 testing.

"This morning, the tests were conducted for the ministers. For the results, inquire from the health minister," the president told the press at the Bogor Presidential Palace on March 15.

While the results of the tests were not known yet, the next day, the president chaired a meeting with his ministers via videoconference to discuss the acceleration of preventive efforts to check the spread of COVID-19 and maintain economic stability in the wake of the pandemic.

Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung shared a screen capture of the meeting through his official social media account on Monday in Jakarta.

Presidential spokesperson for Social Affairs Angkie Yudistia noted that the remote meeting was in accordance with the president's call for government officials and citizens to restrain from venturing outside, unless urgent.

"Activities can be conducted at home or at a place that is not particularly crowded. They can be maximized by using online devices to connect with the outside world," she remarked.

The ministers will also communicate with all levels of the ministrys officials online to lower the likelihood of a COVID-19 outbreak.

"This is to demonstrate the government's seriousness in handling COVID-19 that has been categorized as a national disaster, so that its handling starts with prevention activities as early as possible," the presidential spokesperson remarked.

Starting March 16, protocols have been put in place to control the flow of people coming into the Presidential Palace. A disinfection chamber has also been installed for visitors entering the Presidential Palace Complex.

The Indonesian Government perceives the coronavirus outbreak as a non-natural national disaster and has decided to exercise large-scale self-distancing measures and tighten security at seaports, airports, and border gates to prevent the entry of people that might be carriers of COVID-19.

Achmad Yurianto, the government's spokesman on COVID-19, concurrently Director General of Disease Prevention and Control (P2P) of the Health Ministry, has urged people to desist from visiting public places if not necessary and apply social distancing measures.

A lockdown is, so far, not being considered to be applied in Indonesia, as it could affect the national economy, although the House of Representatives (DPR) had appealed to the government to engage experts in contemplating on imposing a lockdown to contain the spread of the virus.

"We call on the government to conduct regular evaluation by inviting experts to give serious thought to implementing a lockdown if necessary," Deputy House Speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad had remarked on March 16.

Moreover, Indonesian House Speaker Puan Maharani had urged the government to optimize the role of the COVID Quick Handling Task Forces in executing its integrated tasks to contain the coronavirus outbreak under the National Disaster Mitigation Agencys (BNPBs) coordination.

"The integrated tasks include raising awareness, conducting early detection, treating patients, handling impacts, and rehabilitating in accordance with the WHO protocol," she noted in a statement released on March 16.

The task force must immediately announce the steps entailed in handling the COVID-19 outbreak transparently to the public, including concrete steps to avert the spread of COVID-19 that the WHO has declared as a pandemic on March 11, she emphasized.

In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) had earlier urged Indonesia to scale up response mechanisms, including declaring a national emergency, to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

In a letter to President Jokowi on March 10, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom-Ghebreyesus wrote that every country needed to take robust measures designed to slow transmission and contain its spread.

Unfortunately, we have seen undetected or under detected cases at the early stages of the outbreak result in significant rise in cases and deaths in some countries, he wrote, without naming any country.

On March 13, Jokowi engaged in a telephonic conversation with Dr Tedros and promptly took follow-up actions, including forming a national task force to expedite efforts to curb the spread of the COVID-19.

WHO, however, believed that handwashing, social distancing, and travel restrictions, while important, are not sufficient to fight the pandemic.

We have not seen an urgent enough escalation in testing, isolation, and contact tracing, which is the backbone of the response, Tedros said. It is the combination of approaches that matters.

We have a simple message for all countries: Test, test, test, every suspected case, he emphasized. Thus, people coming in close contact with those, who test positive, can be identified and tested as well.

Tedros said more tests are being produced to meet the demand, noting that the WHO had shipped almost 1.5 million tests to 120 countries.

Countries need to increase the number of labs, availability of test kits, and the number of people, who can conduct those tests, according to Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the technical lead for WHO Health Emergencies Program.

According to the WHO data on COVID-19 per March 16, there were 167,511 confirmed cases and 6,606 deaths globally. 

Indonesians react over violence against Muslims in India by Fardah

Jakarta, March 4, 2020 (ANTARA) - Indian Ambassador to Indonesia Pradeep Kumar Rawat, on February 28 visited Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD in Jakarta to discuss bilateral relations and security issues in the two countries. 

Following the meeting in Mahfud’s office, Rawat told the press that India is currently in a safe and peaceful condition. "Everything is peaceful. And as it is known, the situation in India is under control," Rawat said.

He also asked people to not trust the news developing outside because it was being done for certain vested interests.

"And, of course, we advise our friends to not believe in fake news that is being brought out by personal interests to mislead and by those trying to disrupt our country's diversity," he added.

At the same time, however, on social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp in Indonesia, videos of communal attacks against Muslims and a mosque being set on fire during Delhi's recent violence were going viral.

The videos triggered concern and even anger, especially among Muslims, which constitute nearly 90 percent of Indonesia’s population of some 270 million.

Violence against the Muslim community in India, triggered by the passage of the discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act in December 2019, has so far left 42 dead and more than 350 injured.

On March 2, members of Muslim organizations in Medan, North Sumatra Province, held a rally in front of the Indian Consulate General, to express their solidarity towards Indian Muslims and condemned the bloody violence.

“We demand that the Indonesian Government take a stern stance on the conflict in India because our brothers and sisters of the same faith are being murdered,” Razali Taat, the rally coordinator said.

They demanded that the Indian Government stop “the genocide” against Muslims in the South Asian nation.

Next Friday (March 6), a much larger rally is being planned in front of the Indian Embassy in Jakarta by Indonesian Muslim organizations.

In addition, the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) was unequivocal in denouncing the violence on Muslims in India.

"We condemn in the strongest possible terms, the barbaric act of violence that reflects real extremism and gross violation of human rights," the council noted in a press statement signed by its chairman Prof. Dr Din Syamsudin on March 2.

The council urged the Indian government to take stern measures against those involved in the attack and protect Indian Muslims from cruelty in any form.

Indonesia prepares measures to handle COVID-19 cases by Fardah

Jakarta, March 3, 2020 (ANTARA) - Indonesia has now come under the clutches of Coronavirus (COVID-19), with President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) announcing on March 2, 2020, the country's first two cases.
 
A 64-year-old mother and her 31-year-old daughter have tested positive for the infection. The patients are currently in a stable condition while undergoing treatment in an isolation room of the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Disease Hospital in Jakarta.
 
The two Indonesians were in contact with a Japanese citizen, who had tested positive in Malaysia on Feb 27 after visiting Indonesia in early February.
 
The COVID-19 outbreak, which originated in Wuhan, China, in late 2019, is currently affecting 77 countries and territories across the world, with 91,347 cases, 3,120 deaths, and and 48,284 patients recovered, according to data on https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/, on March 3.
 
Jokowi has made assurance to the public that his government has already made necessary preparations to tackle the outbreak since it originated in China.
 
The government has readied over 100 hospitals applying WHO-required services, isolation rooms, medical equipment, and facility standards across the nation to handle coronavirus infection cases.
 
He also revealed that the government had formed a joint team comprising of military, police, and civilian members to control and manage the outbreak.
 
"We also have budget funding that will be prioritized to handle it (coronavirus). If we are not serious about handling it, it will be highly dangerous, and we should remain vigilant and exercise caution," he remarked.