VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

FILE PHOTO: Medical personnel work at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for COVID-19 patients at the Emile Muller GHRMSA hospital in Mulhouse, France, December 16, 2021. REUTERS/Yves Herman - 

The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units in France has fallen for the second day in a row, despite a record infection rate, health ministry data showed on Friday (Jan 14).

France reported 3,895 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care units on Friday, 44 fewer than Thursday, and the second consecutive fall, despite the seven-day moving average of new infections reaching a new high of nearly 294,000 on Thursday.

The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 rose by 357 to 24,511, but the week-on-week increase of 13.5per cent was the lowest since the start of the year.

France's Institut Pasteur said on Wednesday that it expected to see a peak of new Omicron variant coronavirus infections in mid-January, followed by a peak in hospital admissions in the second half of January.

France on Friday also reported 191 new deaths from COVID-19, taking the cumulative total to 126,721//ANT

FILE PHOTO: People wait to get a dose of the vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), on the day Italy brings in tougher rules for the unvaccinated, at a Red Cross vaccination centre by Termini main train station in Rome, Italy, January 10, 2022. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane - 

Italy reported 186,253 COVID-19 related cases on Friday (Jan 14), against 184,615 the day before, the health ministry said, while the number of deaths rose to 360 from 316.

Italy has registered 140,548 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February 2020, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the ninth highest in the world. The country has reported 8.36 million cases to date.

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 18,019 on Friday, up from 17,648 a day earlier.

There were 136 new admissions to intensive care units, down from 156 on Thursday. The total number of intensive care patients increased to 1,679 from a previous 1,668.

Some 1.13 million tests for COVID-19 were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 1.18 million, the health ministry said//CNA

Phinisi boats at Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara on January 22, 2020. (ANTARA PHOTO/Kornelis Kaha/uyu) - 

State-owned tourism and aviation holding InJourney will focus on developing domestic tourism potential considering that international travel is still restricted, marketing director of the holding, Maya Watono, has said.

"I think it will be difficult to fully boost foreign tourists in this pandemic situation," she observed at a virtual press conference on Friday.

More than 80 percent of visitors at Indonesian tourism destinations are domestic tourists, while the remaining are international travelers, she added.

Hence, the company will focus on attracting 330 million visits of domestic tourists, she said. Meanwhile, the number of targeted foreign tourists is only 17 million, she added.

To achieve the domestic tourism target, the holding will also synergize inter-domestic flights so they can be better connected, Watono said.

Furthermore, the development of domestic tourism potential is one of the strategies for reviving the sector, which has been hit hard by the pandemic, Watono said.

Domestic tourism recovery faces great challenges, especially regarding connectivity and logistics between the five super-priority destinations (DPSPs), she noted.

The DPSPs comprise Lake Toba (North Sumatra), Borobudur Temple (Central Java), Mandalika (West Nusa Tenggara), Labuan Bajo (East Nusa Tenggara), and Manado-Likupang (North Sulawesi).

“We will strive to recover the sector – at least to give a jump start, which can bounce Indonesia’s tourism to its prior condition before the pandemic,” Watono remarked.

The infrastructure and feasibility at a number of destinations, Labuan Bajo for instance, still need to be improved to attract more domestic tourists, she said.

"Labuan Bajo must be developed further since there has not been any dedicated entertainment site. Looking at Bali, it is full of entertainment sites, right? However, there are less similar sites in Labuan Bajo,” she added.

The tourism holding -- which is also known as PT Aviasi Pariwisata Indonesia (Persero) -- was launched by President Joko Widodo at Kuta Mandalika Beach, Central Lombok district, West Nusa Tenggara province, on January 13, 2022//ANT

Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko at an event that discuss PERIKLINDO's Electric Vehicle Show (PEVS) here on Friday (January 14, 2022). ANTARA/HO-Kantor Staf Presiden/aa/FR - 

The Electric Vehicle Industry Association's (PERIKLINDO's ) Electric Vehicle Show (PEVS), scheduled in May, could become a platform to introduce electric vehicles to Indonesians, according to PERIKLINDO Head Moeldoko.

"We utilized it as a platform for dissemination to immediately realize Presidential Regulation No. 55 of 2019," he noted through a press statement on Friday.

"This event could be the best place for all domestic products related to Indonesian electric vehicles," Moeldoko, concurrently the Presidential Chief of Staff, noted.

Everybody competes with one another to produce more domestic components, which will advance the development of electric vehicles, as it is supported by local products, which is one of the government's missions, he affirmed.

PERIKLINDO is ready to become one of the pioneers to welcome the era of electrification by holding the PEVS 2022 with Dyandra Promosindo at the JIExpo Kemayoran Jakarta.

PEVS 2022 is an event to introduce one another, so that PERIKLINDO, as a gathering platform for electric vehicles, could become more well-known and gain greater popularity among citizens.

"PERIKLINDO should become an organization that bridges the gap in various policies of the president, government, and consumers," Moeldoko affirmed.

PEVS 2022, to be held on May 12-22 at JIExpo Kemayoran, will also introduce and edify the public on Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs).

It also supports the government's program that focuses on zero emissions by 2060.

The PEVS 2022, as Indonesia's first electric vehicle exhibition, is also being held alongside several other crucial events.

The first is Indonesia's selection to assume the G20 Presidency for the 2021-2022 period.

The second is the issuance of Presidential Regulation No. 55 of 2019 on expediting the Battery-Based Electric Vehicle Program for Road Transportation.

Lastly, the government's policy that pushes the automotive industry toward the era of electrification through the Low Carbon Emission Vehicle (LCEV) road map.

PEVS 2022 will involve Indonesia's entire electric vehicle industry; supporting industry, such as battery and charging station; and the creative industry//ANT