VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian Health Ministry announced 1,868 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Saturday, bringing the total number of infections nationwide to 97,268.

According to data released by the ministry on Saturday, 49 more people have died of the disease, bringing the death toll to 4,714.

The total number of recovered patients has also increased to 55,354.

The capital city recorded 376 new confirmed cases, bringing the total tally to 18,741. Meanwhile, East Java reported 310 new cases, Central Java 191, South Sulawesi 136, South Kalimantan 118, and Gorontalo 102.  

The virus has spread to all of the country's 34 provinces. (Jakpost)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo presents guidelines about integrated COVID-19 handling at the East Java COVID-19 task force headquarters at the Grahadi Building in Surabaya on June 25. (Courtesy of the Presidential Secretariat/Muchlis Jr)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has announced that he tested negative for COVID-19 after meeting with Surakarta Deputy Mayor Achmad Purnomo last week, who has tested positive for the disease.

“The result came in last night and Alhamdulillah [thank God] it was negative. [First Lady Iriana Joko Widodo] also tested negative,” the President said in a video uploaded on the Presidential Secretariat’s official YouTube channel on Saturday.

Jokowi took the test upon hearing that Achmad had tested positive for COVID-19. The President met with the deputy mayor on July 16 at the State Palace in Jakarta in which, as claimed by the deputy mayor, the two discussed the development of Surakarta – the President’s hometown.

The Surakarta city secretary announced on Friday that Achmad had tested positive for COVID-19. He underwent a swab test on July 18, two days after meeting with the President. The result came back on Thursday.

Achmad is undergoing self-isolation, said Surakarta administration secretary Ahyani.

Surakarta Mayor FX Hadi Rudyatmo said he would also take a COVID-19 swab test after learning that Achmad had been infected.

In the video uploaded on Saturday, Jokowi was seen riding a bicycle. He urged the public to keep their immune systems strong by exercising regularly and consuming a healthy diet.

“Don’t forget to wear a face mask and wash your hands after every activity. Do not go into crowds and keep a safe distance [while interacting with others],” the President went on to say. (The Jakarta Post)

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan (jakarta.go.id)

 The Jakarta provincial administration has claimed that the COVID-19 testing capacity, using the polymerase chain reaction method, in the capital has exceeded the standard prescribed by the World Health Organization.  

"We have tested 39,268 new people. If its equivalence is calculated, it equals to 3,688 new people per one million people (being tested) in a week," Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said in a statement that ANTARA received in Jakarta on Saturday.

The WHO has prescribed that 1,000 people per million be tested per week, he pointed out.

The Jakarta government’s success in exceeding the WHO requirement for COVID-19 testing is the result of cooperation and coordination among 47 laboratories in the capital city, Governor Baswedan said.

The collaboration involves privately-owned laboratories and those owned by the central government and state-run enterprises, he noted.

The daily capacity of all 47 laboratories for COVID-19 testing is recorded at 9,769 specimens, he informed.

The novel coronavirus disease initially struck the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019 and then spread to various parts of the world, including countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Indonesian government made an official announcement on the country's first confirmed cases on March 2 this year.

As of July 17, 2020, Indonesia had recorded 83,130 COVID-19 cases, with 41,834 recoveries and 3,957 deaths.

The virus has spread across the country's provinces, with the highest number of cases reported from East Java (17,829); followed by Jakarta (15,889 cases), South Sulawesi (7,713 cases), Central Java (6,366 cases), and West Java (5,402 cases).

To tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, Indonesia is making all-out efforts to develop a vaccine to fight the virus.

To this end, spokesperson for the COVID-19 Handling Task Force Wiku Adisasmito reiterated the government's focus on ensuring safety, precision, and speed in the domestic production of the COVID-19 vaccine.

"We must say that in the development of this vaccine, the Indonesian government is prioritizing three important aspects, with the first is about it being safe; second, being precise; and third, being fast," Adisasmito remarked on Friday.

State-owned pharmaceutical holding company Bio Farma has recently collaborated with China’s Sinovac to produce the COVID-19 vaccine for Indonesia. Sinovac-made COVID-19 vaccine materials arrived in Indonesia on July 19, 2020. (ANTARA)

64 Indonesians repatriated from Mumbai, India, to Jakarta on July 24, 2020 (HO-KJRI Mumbai)

The Indonesian Consulate General in Mumbai, India, facilitated self-initiated repatriation of 64 Indonesians stranded in the country after the Indian government enforced a lockdown policy to stem transmission of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The returnees boarded Garuda Indonesia's GA 8150 flight from Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport to the Soekarno Hatta International Airport on Friday, the Indonesian authority noted in a statement that ANTARA received in Jakarta on Saturday.

The Garuda aircraft departed from the Mumbai-based airport at 6:55 a.m. local time and arrived at the Soekarno Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng, Banten Province, on Friday at 4:45 p.m. Western Indonesia Time (WIB).

Indonesians aboard the Garuda flight constituted university students, workers, regular travelers, and visiting officials. The Indonesian consulate general confirmed that several Indian nationals holding temporary stay permits (KITAS) had also boarded the flight.

On May 22, a total of 117 Indonesian citizens, who got stranded in Mumbai, India, amid the COVID-19 pandemic situation, were also repatriated to Indonesia, Indonesian Consul General in Mumbai Agus P. Saptono stated.

Before being permitted to board the aircraft, all passengers of the Mumbai-Jakarta flight had received negative results for the swab tests they had undergone, he noted.

COVID-19 initially struck the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019 and thereafter spread to various parts of the world, including countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Indonesian government made an official announcement of the country's first confirmed cases on March 2 this year.

As of July 17, 2020, Indonesia had recorded 83,130 COVID-19 cases, with 41,834 recoveries and 3,957 deaths.

The virus spread across the country's provinces, with the highest number of cases reported from East Java, reaching 17,829; followed by 15,889 cases in Jakarta, 7,713 cases in South Sulawesi, 6,366 cases in Central Java, and 5,402 cases in West Java.

To tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, Indonesia is making all-out efforts to develop a vaccine to fight the virus.

To this end, spokesperson for the COVID-19 Handling Task Force Wiku Adisasmito echoed the government's aspirations to prioritize the triad of safety, precision, and speed in the domestic production of the COVID-19 vaccine.

"We must say that in the development of this vaccine, the Indonesian government prioritizes three important aspects, with the first is about it being safe; second, being precise; and third, being fast," Adisasmito remarked on Friday.

State-owned pharmaceutical holding company Bio Farma has recently collaborated with Chinese company Sinovac to produce the COVID-19 vaccine for Indonesia. The Sinovac-made COVID-19 vaccine material arrived in Indonesia on July 19. (ANTARA)