VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Feb. 3 - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has stressed on the enactment of public activity restrictions (PPKM) at the micro or local level.

"At the limited cabinet meeting just now, the president gave directives, so that COVID-19 is handled more effectively by optimizing the effectiveness of PPKM. The president has urged to apply a micro-based approach or at the local level," Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto stated during a virtual press conference following the meeting here on Wednesday.

Micro approach aims to apply PPKM, starting from the levels of village and neighborhood (RT and RW), and by involving the central task force until the smallest units of the COVID-19 task force.

"Of course, the activities are important to increase the community’s discipline in enforcing the law," Hartarto remarked.

Furthermore, the minister noted that the involvement of civil legal enforcers, such as Babinsa, Babinkamtibmas, and Satpol PP, in the operations, with the assistance of the military (TNI) and police (Polri) officers in the implementation of PPKM is not for law enforcement but also for tracing.

The government will be heedful to the needs of the community and will conduct a dynamic evaluation of the implementation of PPKM.

"The government will concentrate on 98 regions implementing PPKM," he revealed.

Meanwhile, Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian recently issued Ministerial Instruction Number 2 of 2021 on the extension of PPKM in Java and Bali to avert the spread of COVID-19.

Chief of the Information Center at the Home Affairs Ministry Benni Irwan confirmed the ministerial instruction inked on January 22, 2021.

PPKM imposed in seven provinces -- Jakarta, West Java, Banten, Central Java, Yogyakarta, East Java, and Bali -- are extended for another two weeks, starting from January 26 to February 8. The previous PPKM period was from January 11 until January 25, 2021. (Antaranews)

Feb. 3 - State Logistics Agency (Bulog) is tasked with importing 80 thousand tons of buffalo meat from India to handle a hike in beef demand before the Ramadan fasting month and Eid al-Fitr in May 2021.

Bulog's President Director, Budi Waseso, stated that the agency had submitted (a proposal for) buffalo meat import as a precautionary measure against a beef price hike ahead of the religious festivities, as agreed upon during the limited meeting of the Coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs.

"We submitted a proposal for meat import ahead of the fasting month and Eid al-Fitr because demand will usually increase. The meeting reached an agreement that Bulog will import 80 thousand tons of buffalo meat," Waseso remarked during a virtual press conference here on Wednesday.

The imports would be conducted in stages in accordance with the market demand, so it would stabilize the price without harming local farmers.

Waseso noted that imports could help lower the fluctuations in beef prices in the market, as the public is already accustomed to buffalo meat consumption.

Bulog will hold a tender to get the supplier in India, though it could not confirm the delivery time, as India may impose lockdown at any time to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.

Waseso is optimistic that the realization of imports can fulfill the government's allocation of 80 thousand tons, after Bulog managed to only import 37 thousand tons of buffalo meat in 2020 out of the 100 thousand tons of the allocation. (Antaranews)

Feb. 3 - President Joko Widodo laid emphasis on the fact that no same formula existed for dealing with COVID-19, so the method to tackle the pandemic varied across countries.

"The President also conveyed that the handling of COVID-19 is different from one country to another. There is no same formula," Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto noted in his press statement while reiterating the president's affirmation at the Presidential Office in Jakarta, Wednesday.

To this end, the minister remarked that the head of state had urged Indonesia to apply the concept deemed most appropriate for Indonesia.

Drawing reference to the data on enforcement of restrictions on community activities (PPKM), Hartarto gauged that several provinces, including DKI Jakarta, Central Java, and DI Yogyakarta, had recorded improvements in connection with the handling of COVID-19.

"The 98 districts and cities are also still in the red. This is a decrease from 92 earlier. In terms of districts and cities, the figure decreased from 363 to 332. Then, there are some that remain nationally," he stated.

According to Hartarto, the PPKM data also indicated that population mobility decreased in various sectors.

"The ones with high mobility are at workplaces and in residential areas. Hence, residential areas have become a cause for concern," he explained.

The head of state then encouraged to scale up vaccination efforts, both in terms of the volume and speed of implementation.

In this way, herd immunity can quickly be realized.

"Vaccination is, of course, based on data and areas, dense zones, high-density areas, high mobility, and high interaction are also considered as activities of economic centers," he noted.

Some to be implemented in future comprise the issuance of health ministerial regulations (Permenkes) that will include rapid antigen testing for initial screening, tightening of 3M protocols, and digital tracing involving all parties, including village supervisory non-commissioned officers (Babinsa), police officers assigned to villages as advisors on security and public order (Babinkamtibmas), and the Public Order Agency (Satpol PP).

President Joko Widodo had earlier stated that the imposition of PPKM in the islands of Java and Bali had yet to successfully reduce COVID-19 infections.

The government has been struggling to win the battle against the global pandemic of the novel coronavirus disease by not only imposing the PPKM but also by conducting its national vaccination program that commenced on January 13, 2021.

As of January 26, 2021, Indonesia's COVID-19 infection rate had exceeded one million cases since President Widodo officially announced the country's first COVID-19 cases on March 2, 2020. (Antaranews)

Feb. 3 - Scientists gave Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine the green light on Tuesday saying it was almost 92% effective in fighting COVID-19 based on peer-reviewed late-stage trial results published in The Lancet international medical journal.

Experts said the Phase III trial results meant the world had another effective weapon to fight the deadly pandemic and justified to some extent Moscow’s decision to roll out the vaccine before final data had been released.

The results, collated by the Gamaleya Institute in Moscow that developed and tested the vaccine, were in line with efficacy data reported at earlier stages of the trial, which has been running in Moscow since September.

“The development of the Sputnik V vaccine has been criticised for unseemly haste, corner cutting, and an absence of transparency,” said Ian Jones, professor at the University of Reading, and Polly Roy, professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

“But the outcome reported here is clear and the scientific principle of vaccination is demonstrated,” the scientists, who were not involved in the study, said in a comment shared by The Lancet. “Another vaccine can now join the fight to reduce the incidence of COVID-19.”

The results were based on data from 19,866 volunteers, of whom a quarter received a placebo, the researchers, led by the Gamaleya Institute’s Denis Logunov, said in The Lancet.

Since the trial began in Moscow, there were 16 recorded cases of symptomatic COVID-19 among people who received the vaccine, and 62 among the placebo group, the scientists said.

This showed that a two-dose regimen of the vaccine - two shots based on two different viral vectors, administered 21 days apart - was 91.6% effective against symptomatic COVID-19.

‘RUSSIA WAS RIGHT’

The Sputnik V vaccine is the fourth worldwide to have Phase III results published in leading peer-reviewed medical journals following the shots developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca.

Pfizer’s shot had the highest efficacy rate at 95%, closely followed by Moderna’s vaccine and Sputnik V while AstraZeneca’s vaccine had an average efficacy of 70%.

Sputnik V has also now been approved for storage in normal fridges, as opposed to freezers, making transportation and distribution easier, Gamaleya scientists said on Tuesday.

Russia approved the vaccine in August, before the large-scale trial had begun, saying it was the first country to do so for a COVID-19 shot. It named it Sputnik V, in homage to the world’s first satellite, launched by the Soviet Union.
Small numbers of frontline health workers began receiving it soon after and a large-scale roll out started in December, though access was limited to those in specific professions, such as teachers, medical workers and journalists.

In January, the vaccine was offered to all Russians.

“Russia was right all along,” Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which is responsible for marketing the vaccine abroad, told reporters on Tuesday.

He said the results supported Russia’s decision to begin administering Sputnik V to frontline workers while the trial was still underway, and suggested scepticism of such moves was politically motivated.

“The Lancet did very unbiased work despite some of the political pressures that may have been out there,” he said. (Reuters)