VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Mar. 2 - Social Affairs Minister Tri Rismaharini has said that her ministry is no longer compensating families of COVID-19 victims due to funds shortage and difficulties in determining cause of death and calculating the payout.    

The compensation funds were no longer available when she took over as the social affairs minister on December 23, 2020, she added.

"Actually, how much is the need for COVID-19 victims? It's inconceivable. It turns out that the amount is huge and there is no more money,” Rismaharini remarked here on Tuesday.

For 2021, the ministry has only allocated a budget of Rp35 billion for compensating natural disaster victims, with Rp15 million earmarked for each victim.

Earlier, the ministry's director of social protection for social disaster victims, Sunarti, had said there has been no budget allocation this year for compensating the families of people dying of COVID-19.

Last year, the ministry had provided Rp15 million as compensation to heirs of each COVID-19 victim.

As of March 3, 2021, or in the year since the first infections emerged in the country, Indonesia has recorded a total of 1,341,314 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 1,151,915 recoveries, and 36,325 deaths.

The country’s single-day COVID-19 case count increased by 6,680 on Tuesday. (Antaranews)

Mar. 2 - The Health Ministry is seeking to boost the strength of officers at the Community Health Center (Puskesmas) and members of the National Security and Protection Agency (Bhabin Kamtibmas) in each region to improve contact tracing efforts.

“A total of 80-100 thousand Puskesmas and Bhabin Kamtibmas (community police) officers will be deployed. We will mobilize them to help trace COVID-19 patients," Deputy Health Minister Dante Saksono informed at the COVID-19 Pandemic Year Anniversary webinar entitled ‘Indonesian Innovation for Indonesia Recovers’, here on Tuesday.

Detection of COVID-19 patients through tracing is one of the efforts being undertaken to control the pandemic more intensively in the upstream sector, he pointed out.

By strengthening tracing efforts, the mortality rate in the population is expected to be curtailed as potentially severe cases would be identified more quickly, he added.

"In this case, people will be identified, and will not just have to wait for a diagnosis," he noted.

As part of tracing efforts, officers will be deployed to examine residents who have been in close contact with COVID-19 patients so any transmission can be detected quickly, he explained.

Saksono said the stigma around coronavirus patients in the community is still impeding tracing efforts.

People’s fear of being isolated due to exposure to COVID-19 has led to obstacles in tracing efforts.

However, Dante said he is optimistic that efforts to reduce the mortality rate will bring better results if tracing efforts are optimized and testing accuracy is improved. (Antaranews)

Mar. 2 - Research and Technology Minister Bambang P. S. Brodjonegoro echoed Indonesia’s unwavering efforts to lessen dependence on the imports of medical devices by domestically producing medical equipment, including ventilators and COVID-19 rapid test kits.

"Our efforts to reduce dependence on the imports of medical devices and drugs have successfully been conducted," Brodjonegoro remarked during a virtual event in Jakarta on Tuesday themed "Indonesian Innovation for Indonesia to Recover, Resurrect and Advance," to mark a year since the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

The minister of research and technology, concurrently head of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), highlighted the rise in imports of antibody rapid test kits for COVID-19 screening since the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

He remarked that on account of the urgency in conditions at that time, an analysis or assessment might not have been conducted of the quality of the antibody-based COVID-19 rapid test kits imported from these countries.

In connection with the imports for antibody test kits, ventilators, thermometers, and medicinal raw materials for making vitamins, the COVID-19 Research and Innovation Consortium, formed by the Ministry of Research and Technology, in March 2020 seeks to produce research and innovation products for the purpose of import substitution.

During that time, Indonesia had imported the products to meet all its ventilator requirements. This is a matter that must be resolved immediately.

To fulfill domestic requirements and lower dependence on imports, Indonesia, through the Covid-19 Research and Innovation Consortium, has manufactured ventilators and antibody-based rapid test kits, such as RI-GHA, which have been used in the community.

Several ventilators, such as BPPT3S-LEN, Vent-I Origin, Ventilator Transport Covent-20 UI, and Dharcov-23S, have been used in the community.

In fact, ventilators can be purchased directly through the LKPP e-catalog, specifically the BPPT3S-LEN model for Rp25 million, Vent-I CPAP at Rp24 million, and Dharcov-23S at Rp78.5 million.

Despite the fact that there are elements that are urgent since it is necessary to immediately find a way to deal with COVID-19, all research and development processes until the downstream of research and innovation products continue to follow the applicable standards and procedures, including clearing the test from the Health Facility Security Center (BPFK), securing a distribution permit from the Ministry of Health, and obtaining permission from the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM).

"This means we continue to follow scientific principles deemed necessary for us," the BRIN head stated. (Antaranews)

Mar. 2 - Some 1,172 army and police personnel in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) participated in a virtual training on Tuesday to serve as COVID-19 vaccination officers.

The COVID-19 vaccinator candidates comprised 955 members of the police and 217 members of the national army. Of the 955 members of the police force, 255 are health workers and 700 are non-medical personnel. In the meantime, of the 217 soldiers, 10 are health workers and 207 are non-medical personnel.

The participants attended the training held virtually on Tuesday.

At the opening of the TNI-Polri COVID-19 Vaccination Battalion training at the NTB Regional Police Headquarters in Mataram, NTB Regional Police Chief Inspector General Mohammad Iqbal affirmed that the army and police personnel, trained to serve as COVID-19 vaccination officers, will become part of the special battalion.

"This battalion will later be considered as a special force that will fight the massive spread of the corona virus," Iqbal remarked.

The COVID-19 vaccinator battalion, comprising health and non-health workers, will be stationed in districts and cities to offer assistance in the COVID-19 vaccination campaign.

"The national army and police will assist the government in conducting massive vaccinations. Through the vaccinator battalion, the vaccination campaign is expected to be implemented smoothly," Iqbal stated. (Antaranews)