VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Vice House Speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad. (ANTARA/Muhammad Jasuma Fadholi) - 

Vice House Speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad has urged the government to refuse entry to tourists from South Africa and other countries where the B.1.1.529 coronavirus variant has been detected to prevent imported cases.

The Health Ministry should promptly conduct research to find accurate information about the new variant of the coronavirus, Ahmad said in a statement released here on Friday.

“I think it is important (for the Health Ministry) to do that as part of prevention and mitigation efforts to protect the Indonesian people from the new variant of COVID-19,” he elaborated.

The Vice House Speaker said that based on the information he has received, the B.1.1.529 variant has twice as many mutations as the Delta variant.

“The government must take a firm step to prevent the entry of the B.1.1.529 variant, which is reportedly more severe than the Delta variant,” he added.

When the Delta variant spread in Indonesia, many hospitals were overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients, healthcare workers became exhausted, medicines and oxygen became difficult to find, and many patients succumbed to the infection, he noted.

Indonesian tourists who have just returned from other countries must undergo quarantine to ensure that they are not exposed to the new variant of COVID-19, he said//ANT

Ministry of Women Empowerment and Child Protection's Child's Right Fulfillment Department Deputy Agustina Erni. (ANTARA/ HO-KemenPPPA/FR) - 

The Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection invited all Indonesian children from 34 provinces to a fun learning experience through a Virtual Education Tour in commemoration of World Children's Day celebrated on November 20.

"During the pandemic, all children should be able to learn from their homes," the Ministry's Child's Right Fulfillment Department Deputy, Agustina Erni, stated during the Virtual Education Tour press conference here on Friday.

"Hence, the ministry collaborates with Jakarta's Amateur Astronomer Association (HAAJ) to hold this activity, so that every child can receive knowledge and happily study through a virtual tour to explore space," she noted.

During the event, Indonesian children from all provinces could experience a virtual tour to explore the planetarium, learn about the solar system and sky phenomenon, as well as directly observe the sun guided by HAAJ's representatives.

Beyond educational purposes, this activity is held to nurture the spirit of Indonesian children to aim high and reach for the sky and to cultivate hope as much as possible despite the pandemic.

Erni's ministry expects that Indonesian children would become more motivated to create a better world in future while also reminding adults to participate with them.

This spirit aligns with the World Children's Day 2021 campaign that upholds the theme "A Better Future for Every Child."

"For all of you children, I hope that you would be able to learn as much as possible. Do not be shy to ask questions because this knowledge is very good to expand all of your horizons," she affirmed.

"I wish all of you Indonesian children a happy World Children's Day. Never stop learning and always be happy," she remarked//ANT

Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas meets with the Saudi Minister of Islamic Affairs, Dawah and Guidance, Sheikh Abdullatif bin Abdulaziz, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. (ANTARA/HO-Religious Affairs Ministry/KT) - 

Indonesian citizens can enter the Holy Land after the Government of Saudi Arabia lifted the suspension of international travel for several countries and the booster vaccine requirement, Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas stated.

"There are no longer requirements for being vaccinated with the booster dose, but (umrah pilgrims) still have to comply with health protocols," Qoumas noted in a written statement received here on Friday.

Earlier, Saudi Arabia authorities only allowed entry into the Holy Land for those vaccinated with the Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) brands.

Earlier, the authority had issued a regulation for umrah pilgrims inoculated with the Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines that necessitated receiving one dose of additional injections or boosters from four vaccines recognized by the Government of Saudi Arabia.

That rule has been lifted, and foreign nationals or umrah pilgrims must undergo a five-day quarantine upon arrival in the Holy Land.

"Pilgrims have to comply with health protocols by undergoing institutional quarantine for five days. It must be obeyed together," Qoumas stated.

Moreover, Saudi Arabia's aviation authority, the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), has updated its international flight regulations. As of December 1, 2021, flights from Indonesia can directly fly to Saudi Arabia.

Qoumas has welcomed the new regulation issued by Saudi Arabia's aviation authority dated November 25, 2021.

"Alhamdulillah (Thank God), after returning from a working visit from Saudi Arabia, I received official information that starting at 1 a.m. on Wednesday, December 1, 2021, Indonesians will be allowed to enter Saudi Arabia without having to stay in a third country for 14 days," he expounded.

He noted that Indonesia was prioritized for hajj and umrah after he had attended a meeting with the Saudi hajj and umrah authority at Mecca, Monday, November 22//ANT

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is inching closer to a consensus to negotiate an international agreement to prevent future pandemics, although Washington is so far reluctant to make the pact legally binding, Western diplomats say.

Health ministers from WHO's 194 member states open a three-day special assembly on Monday to try to clinch a deal with the aim of strengthening the agency's ability to address pandemics, after its handling of COVID-19 was criticised.

The United States has laid down a "red line" that it does not yet want to commit to a legally-binding treaty, but backs the idea of an agreement, and is supported by Brazil and India, diplomats say.

The European Union is pushing hard for a treaty that sets firm obligations, with backing from 70 countries, a European diplomat said.

"We are negotiating, there is a kind of growing consensus on the text but there are still discussions going on," he said. "Whatever we do, we need a continued commitment at the highest political level in the future and set up a system which allows for engagement and preparedness at the highest level in a much better structured way."

China has engaged in the talks and has not opposed a treaty, the European diplomat said.

More than 5.4 million people have died since the SARS-CoV-2 virus emerged in central China in December 2019. The WHO says that China has still not shared some of its early data that might help pinpoint the origin of the virus.

A global agreement is expected to cover issues including sharing of data and genome sequences of emerging viruses, but so far talks have not focused on its content.

Another Western diplomat said: "It looks highly likely that we will be agreeing to a new inter-governmental negotiating body...The outstanding point is the precise legal nature of it and under which article of WHO's Constitution it would fall."

"The Americans have been very constructive, they have gone to lengths during the negotiations to say they are not against a treaty. But at this stage they want to keep open the precise legal nature of the agreement that we reach."

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Gheybreyesus has endorsed the proposed treaty.

"Surely countries can agree on the need for a binding pact on the threat of pandemics," Tedros told reporters on Wednesday. "I’m encouraged that there is now a broad consensus for the need for such an instrument." (Reuters)