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February
Feb. 22 - The COVID-19 Handling Task Force urged to take into account the management of medical waste, including single-use masks, while applying micro-scale community activities restrictions (PPKM).
"This is what we need to convey to PPKM enforcers at the micro scale. We support contact tracing, isolation, and village posts, but let us not neglect waste management at the family level, including medical waste, such as masks, that can be produced from such programs," Head of Health Handling from the Task Force, Military Brigadier General (Ret) Dr Alexander K. Ginting, stated during a discussion in Jakarta on Sunday.
During the implementation of PPKM, the production of medical waste, including single-use masks, which can potentially contain the COVID-19 virus particles, may increase and become the source of spread of the virus if they are not handled properly.
To this end, he urged authorities involved in the implementation of PPKM at the micro level, such as village-level governments and community managements, as well as neighborhood associations, to give special attention to medical waste management in their area.
Furthermore, Head of the Task Force's Medical Waste Sub-division, Lia G. Partakusuma, urged people to contribute to managing mask waste in order to prevent the spread of disease from waste.
Partakusuma suggested that people should disinfect their single-use masks before disposing them, including by firstly soaking them in detergent to get rid of any viruses and to cut them up to prevent irresponsible parties from using them.
In the case of COVID-19 patients under independent isolation at home, it is advisable that their waste be separated from those of the remaining residents in the house to ease the process of medical waste management.
He also encouraged the establishment of mask collection points at offices or homes with special signs to ensure safety for cleaners that transport them.
"All of us would hopefully realize that we are responsible for our own environment, and let us break the chain of transmission of COVID-19 by closing all potential means of transmission," she emphasized.
Data from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) found that since the COVID-19 pandemic struck Indonesia in March 2020 until early February of 2021, some 6,417.95 tons of medical waste related to COVID-19 had been generated. (Antaranews)
February
Malaysia to start COVID-19 vaccination drive early as first doses arrive
Feb. 22 - Malaysia moved up its COVID-19 inoculation drive by two days as the first batch of vaccines arrived in the Southeast Asian nation on Sunday.
Malaysia aims to vaccinate at least 80% of its 32 million people within a year as it pushes to revive an economy that, slammed by coronavirus-related curbs, recorded its worst slump in over two decades in 2020.
It has imposed more lockdowns this year amid a fresh wave of coronavirus infections. The country has recorded 280,272 cases and 1,051 deaths.
A total of 312,390 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were delivered to Malaysia on Sunday morning, with more expected in coming weeks.
“The second delivery will be made on Feb. 26, and we will continue to receive (Pfizer) deliveries every two weeks until it is completed,” Science Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said in a virtual news conference.
Malaysia has secured 32 million doses from Pfizer and BioNTech.
Vaccine doses from China’s Sinovac Biotech are scheduled to be delivered in bulk on Feb. 27, pending approval from local regulators, Khairy said.
The national vaccine rollout will begin Wednesday, earlier than initially scheduled, with Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Health Ministry Director General Noor Hisham Abdullah set to receive the first doses, Khairy said. (Reuters)
February
New Zealand to push for tariff-free trade of COVID-19 essentials at APEC
Feb. 22 - New Zealand will use its platform as host of an Asia-Pacific trade group in coming months to seek a global approach to coronavirus vaccinations that would eliminate tariffs on goods needed to fight COVID-19.
Amid concerns that smaller nations may be left behind in vaccinating their populations, New Zealand - one of the most successful countries in curbing the pandemic - will make the proposals at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, which it will host virtually this year.
“Our message is that to deal with a global pandemic like this we need more global participation,” said Vangelis Vitalis, New Zealand’s deputy secretary for trade and economy, who chairs the APEC2021 Senior Officials’ Meeting.
“Trade is not going to solve the crisis but trade can help,” he told Reuters in an interview.
New Zealand proposes making shipments between the 21 APEC members of medicines, medical and surgical equipment, hygiene products an other goods tariff-free and easing other restrictions on their movement across borders.
The proposal would have to agreed on in the next couple of weeks to get approved at the APEC trade ministers’ meeting in May, Vitalis said.
Some APEC nations committed last year to keeping COVID-19 supply chains open and removing trade restrictions on essential goods, especially medical supplies. But there has been no firm action since.
Only New Zealand and Singapore took this further, eliminating tariffs on more than 120 products they deemed essential.
“It’s worrying that only two small countries have done that,” Vitalis said. New Zealand wants a ministerial statement listing pandemic-essential products and services, he said.
It would also ease the movement of coronavirus vaccines through air and sea ports, which has been a growing concern amid smaller nations like New Zealand who fear larger economies will buy up and control medical supplies.
Despite efforts by the World Health Organization to ensure smaller nations get their share of vaccines, experts say richer nations have been hoarding vaccines and essential goods, leaving poorer and smaller nations at their mercy for these products.
New Zealand began vaccinating border workers on Saturday, but most of the country’s 5 million people are not expected to get inoculated until the second half of the year.
Vitalis said “vaccine nationalism,” which Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern warned against last month, is in no one’s interest.
Mutation risks mean a need to avoid “parts of the global population not vaccinated,” he said.
Although vaccine tariffs are low, there are significant charges on equipment like syringes, needles and gloves, which may impede the inoculation process.
The consensus-based APEC has struggled to reach agreements in recent years amid then-President Donald Trump’s trade war with China. Joe Biden, who succeeded Trump last month, has promised a more multilateral approach but is not expected to rush into trade deals with Beijing. [L4N2KF3AC]
The trade-dependent host nation “would like to see APEC go broader on trade liberalisation, but we have to be realistic on what is achievable this year,” said Alan Bollard, the New Zealand-based former executive director of the APEC Secretariat in Singapore.
“COVID-19 is an immediate concern - addressing it is also a chance to ride over ongoing trade barriers,” said Bollard, a former head of New Zealand’s central bank. (Reuters)
February
Feb. 22 - -East Nusa Tenggara Province has recorded a total of 216 coronavirus-related deaths since the COVID-19 pandemic started in March 2020, according to data from the local health office.
The COVID-19-related deaths were found in 19 out of 22 districts and city in the province, Secretary of the East Nusa Tenggara Provincial Health Office David Mandala said on Sunday.
The districts and city include Sabu Raijua, Sumba Barat, Sumba Barat Daya, Rote Ndao, Timor Tengah Utara, Flores Timur, Ende, Malaka, Alor, Lembata, Sikka, Belu, Manggarai, Kupang, Timor Tengah Selatan, and Sumba Timur, he said.
He said the East Nusa Tenggara provincial capital of Kupang recorded the highest
number of deaths at 94.
"In general, the patients who died of the COVID-19 had comorbidities," he said.
The COVID-19 deaths represent 0.62 percent of the national death toll which reached 34,316 as of Saturday (Feb 20). (Antaranews)