VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Deputy Chief Lestari Moerdijat stated that the SOE-produced COVID-19 vaccine served as a token of the state's creative ability in adapting to the impacts of the pandemic and global crisis.

"Efforts to constantly encourage (public) creativity in meeting domestic needs must be lauded amid the pandemic and global crisis that have yet to end," Moerdijat noted in a written statement received here on Thursday.

The MPR deputy chief delivered the statement in response to the state-owned enterprises minister's remark about the SOE-produced COVID-19 vaccine that would be released in August 2022 for use by everyone. Currently, the vaccine was undergoing the phase 3 of clinical trial that involved 4,040 subjects aged 18 years and above.

She called for consistent efforts to make the nation rise amid the global crises.

She expected stakeholders to actively contribute to tap into the national potential in rising to the challenges of several sectors, such as medical, education, economy, politics, social, and cultural.

"Now is the right time to utilize the national potential as best as possible in order to pursue independence/sovereignty," she stated.

She opined that the spirit to supply the COVID-19 vaccine independently could serve as motivation to pursue similar aspects in other sectors

She affirmed that independence did not necessarily mean that they could do everything alone since essentially, no nation in the world could live without depending on others.

"National independence could be initiated by instilling self-confidence and optimism in the citizens in responding to every challenge they face," she said.

Hence, several efforts to foster public optimism were strategic measures that should be applied immediately to tackle the impacts of the global crises.  (Antaranews)

The COVID-19 Handling Task Force has urged the governments of five provinces that have recorded the most additional COVID-19 cases to bolster the implementation of the health protocols.

"According to a field survey, people's compliance with (the health protocol on wearing) masks tends to be lower than (for) social distancing," the task force’s spokesperson, Wiku Adisasmito, noted at a virtual press conference on the development of COVID-19 handling, which was accessed from here on Thursday.

In addition, the regional governments’ performance in monitoring and reporting the community’s compliance with the health protocols has also decreased.

"Only 17 of the 34 provinces reported (their monitoring results) in the past week -- between July 25–31, 2022," the spokesperson noted.

He informed said that according to the latest reports from the 17 provinces, more than 40 percent of sub-districts/villages have failed to comply with the protocol on wearing masks, while more than 20 percent have failed to obey the social distancing regulation.

The five provinces that have contributed the most additional cases this week have comprised Jakarta (19 thousand cases), West Java (7 thousand), Banten (4 thousand), East Java (2 thousand), and South Kalimantan (610).

Hence, the level of health protocol compliance in the five provinces must be re-evaluated, Adisasmito said.

For instance, the compliance rate for the protocols on wearing masks and maintaining physical distancing in West Java province is below 20 percent, he noted.

"I hope that the community and local officials who are supervising the (implementation of the) health protocols will rebuild and maintain the compliance and obedience (toward the protocols) together, as well as not underestimate the (impact of the) pandemic," he remarked.

The spokesperson also pointed out that several studies have reported that if COVID-19 cases are not constantly suppressed, the public health burden would become heavier in the future.

The studies have pointed to the increasing need for further medical treatment of patients due to health problems experienced after recovering from COVID-19, he informed.

“The potential (of having the additional health problems) will be greater if the patient has experienced mental disorders prior," he added. (Antaranews)

New Zealand's health ministry sees strong signs that the country's latest COVID-19 wave has peaked, as new cases continue to trend lower.

The number of people in hospitals with COVID is also down on late July.

"The case rates have continued to trend lower across all regions for the second week running," Andrew Old, head of the New Zealand Public Health Agency, told reporters on Thursday.

In the past seven days there were on average 6,142 new cases daily of COVID, down from a seven-day rolling average of 7,776 new cases a week earlier, according to Health Ministry data released on Thursday.

According to data issued on Thursday, 663 people are in hospital with COVID, well below levels seen in late July, when more than 800 people were in hospital with the virus.

Australia is seeing signs of an unexpectedly early peak in its winter outbreak. Australian Health Minister Mark Butler told Nine News that the government was quietly hoping cases had begun falling.

New Zealand's latest modelling showed case numbers were at the lower end of what had been expected. The decline "strongly suggests we've reached a peak," Old said.

The Omicron BA.5 sub-variant is driving the current wave in New Zealand, which has 5.1 million people. There have been 44,776 active cases in the past seven days. (Reuters)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday told Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen that Washington wanted a "strong, positive relationship" between their two countries.

The United States and Cambodia have had a frosty relationship in recent years, with Washington fiercely critical of Hun Sen's ongoing crackdown on his political opposition and increasingly wary of his increasing engagement with China's military. (reuters)