VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Mar. 1 - China has pledged to deliver 400,000 doses of Sinopharm’s COVID-19 vaccine to Afghanistan, Afghan officials said on Monday, in a boost for an immunisation campaign begun last week.

“China’s ambassador to Kabul said in a meeting with health officials that his country would provide Afghanistan with 400,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine,” Ghulam Dastagir Nazari, the health ministry’s head of the immunisation programme, told Reuters.

The Sinopharm vaccine produced in China has been approved by the World Health Organization, but it is unclear when it will be delivered, Nazari said.

So far just over 12,000 health workers have received the vaccine in all 34 provinces of Afghanistan, he said.

The vaccination of members of the security forces has also begun, according to another official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to media.

Afghan government forces are facing intensified attacks, blamed on Taliban insurgents, since September, when the two sides entered U.S.-brokered peace talks hosted by Qatar. The Taliban has largely denied responsibility for the rash of violence. The militant group has also said it supports the vaccination campaign.

Afghanistan has already received 500,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from India, which enabled the nation to launch its vaccination drive last Tuesday.

Afghan health officials have said that the international COVAX programme, which is aimed at improving access to the COVID-19 vaccine for developing countries, would provide vaccines to cover 20% of the country’s 38 million population.

Afghanistan has registered 55,733 infections and 2,444 deaths. But experts say cases are significantly under-reported due to low testing and limited access to medical facilities in the war-torn country. (Reuters)

Mar. 1 - Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno unveiled a plan to reopen Bali for tourists through the Free COVID Corridor Program.

"We have prepared the Free COVID Corridor for Bali and several other tourist destinations," the minister noted during an online dialog themed "Vaccination Comes, Tourism Shines" on Monday.

The program, which is a proposal from tourism and creative economy agents in Bali, has been often being deliberated by the local government, he stated.

The one-time Jakarta vice governor spoke of having repetitively streamlined the plan.

Uno called on the government to exercise caution to examine the possibility of reopening green zones, areas, with the lowest risk of COVID-19 transmission, in the world-renowned tourist island for tourists, including foreign travelers.

The plan for the designation of green zones in Bali include Nusa Dua and Ubud and can be expanded to cover Nusa Penida and several other areas to align with the local government's directives, he stated.

"We want to get more ready in line with the downward trend of COVID-19 cases, particularly in Bali. We are mulling over reopening green zones for tourists from several countries, such as China, Singapore, and other countries," he remarked.

The minister spoke of having invited several ambassadors to personally bear witness to the government's preparedness to open tourist destinations in Bali and other regions.

However, Uno noted that the plan to reopen the tourist destinations hinged largely on the endeavors to handle the COVID-19 pandemic in Bali.

"This returns to us. Hopefully, (the caseload) would not be triple digit but double digit. As I see, (COVID-19 handling) in Bali has made quite significant progress in the seven days," he remarked.

Uno is optimistic that the government would keep a close watch on the decline in the COVID-19 caseload to begin implementing the Free COVID Corridor Program.

"In mid-month, we are optimistic of being able to coordinate with Mrs. foreign minister, Mr law and human rights minister, the health minister, the chief of COVID-19 response task force, and the governor to finalize (the plan for) the Free COVID Corridor Program and ensure that the trial can be realized. If the result is positive, then we can go ahead with it and increase their number," he explained. (Antaranews)

Mar. 1 - Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has asked local governments to intensify testing, tracing, and treatment as part of measures to reduce the rate of transmission of COVID-19.

"The target is to reduce the rate of transmission of COVID-19. To reduce the rate of transmission, we need to increase testing, tracing, and treatment," Gunadi stated during a working visit to community health centers (Puskesmas) of Bambanglipuro, Bantul regency, Yogyakarta on Monday.

Encouraging Puskesmas to accelerate testing, tracing, and treatment, he said such steps are essential and can be carried out in cooperation with health workers, the national army, and police as well as local communities.

"So we need to identify who is infected. After people who are infected with COVID-19 are found, they must be isolated immediately so that they do not spread (the virus) to other people," he stated.

If people who are infected with COVID-19 can be treated immediately, the potential increase in cases can be curtailed, he stressed.

"If one person is infected, don't let him pass it on to other people because that would be dangerous," he said.

It is important to pursue strategies so that COVID-19 patients recover quickly, he added. Providing vaccines so that people can avoid infection is also an important strategy, he noted.

However, preventing the spread of COVID-19 by increasing testing, tracing, and treatment is the most important step as soon as a COVID-19 case is identified, he said.

"Then, getting used to wearing a mask, maintaining distance, and washing hands is also important to prevent transmission of COVID-19," the minister added.  (Antaranews)

Mar. 1 - China used coronavirus prevention measures, intimidation and visa curbs to limit foreign reporting in 2020, ushering in a “rapid decline in media freedom,” the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC) said on Monday.

For the third year in a row, no journalists told the group that working conditions had improved, the FCCC said in an annual report based on 150 responses to a survey of correspondents and interviews with bureau chiefs.

“All arms of state power - including surveillance systems introduced to curb coronavirus - were used to harass and intimidate journalists, their Chinese colleagues, and those whom the foreign press sought to interview,” it said.

Authorities cited public health concerns to deny reporters access to sensitive areas and threatened them with enforced quarantine, it added. Visa restrictions were also used to put pressure on reporting.

At least 13 correspondents were given press credentials valid for 6 months or less, the FCCC said. Foreign reporters based in China typically receive one-year visas and must renew them annually.

Journalists were also used as “pawns” in China’s diplomatic disputes, it added.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Monday that the report’s claims were “baseless”.

“We always welcome media and journalists from all countries to cover news in China according to the law ... what we oppose is ideological bias against China and fake news in the name of press freedom,” he said, at a daily news briefing.

China expelled more than a dozen foreign journalists at U.S. media organizations in 2020, amid a series of tit-for-tat actions between the countries. Washington also slashed the number of journalists permitted to work in the United States at four major Chinese state-owned media outlets.

In September, Australia helped two of its foreign correspondents leave China after they were questioned by the country’s state security ministry.

Journalists reporting from far western Xinjiang, where China has been accused of large-scale human rights abuses, encountered especially intense harassment, the report said.

Last year Chinese authorities detained Cheng Lei, an Australian citizen working for Chinese state media, and later Haze Fan, a Chinese national working for Bloomberg News, both on suspicion of endangering national security.

Both remain in detention.

Some Reuters journalists are members of the FCCC. (Reuters)