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Vice President Maruf Amin. (ANTARA/RR/SK-BPMI, Setwapres) - 

Vice President Ma’ruf Amin urged people to slaughter sacrificial animals (Qurban) of Idul Adha at slaughterhouse (RPH) in attempts to shun the crowds during the enforcement of emergency restriction of movements (PPKM) amid the COVID-19 case spike.

Amin has also asked all ulemas, clerics, and religious figures in the regions to disseminate the information to public so they could implement the directives.

“This is our responsibilities as ulemas who certainly have the duty (of disseminating the information),” Amin noted in a press statement here on Sunday.

The Qurban beneficiaries should stay at home while waiting for the meat to be distributed to them, he said adding that Qurban should be distributed by personnel by observing to health protocols strictly.

The Vice President will conduct hybrid meetings with Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, representatives of the Indonesian Ulema council (MUI) and Islamic mass organizations to discuss about the provision on sacrificial animal slaughtering and meat distribution to the needy people on Sunday night.

Amin earlier urged ulemas and regional administration heads to discuss about the adjustment on Muslims’ mass prayers during the emergency restrictions.

“Ulemas in the regions can discuss about it with regional administration heads, Regional Leadership Communication Forum (Forkopimda), along with MUI on how it should be adjusted in the field,” he outlined.

He called on the ulemas and Islamic figures not to force mass prayer pertaining to Idul Adha  at mosques or  public spaces during the restriction implementation.

“I ask (you) to not perform mass prayer since some residents in some regions are emotionally insisting on performing Idul Adha mass prayer in open space, despite the danger,” he said.

Takbiran (chanting Allahuakbar on Eid eve), Idul Adha prayer, and qurban slaughter are suspended in a bid to curb the COVID-19 transmission rate across the regions. The  slaughtering is suggested to be conducted at slaughterhouse (RPH) or in the large field, for non-RPH areas, by adhering to stringent health protocols and without the presence of qurban givers or beneficiries//ANT

A screenshot of a press conference on evaluation of the restriction of movement policy. (ANTARA/HO-Kemensos) - 

The Ministry of Social Affairs with the cooperation of the National Logistic Agency (Bulog) were distributing a total of 200 million kilograms of rice to 10 million beneficiary families (KPM) under the Family Hope Program (PKH), and another 10 million beneficiaries under the Cash Social Assistance (BST) program.

Each beneficiary received 10 kg of rice to help them cope with the impact of emergency restriction of movement being imposed to curb the COVID-19 spread, Social Affairs Minister Tri Rismaharini said in a statement here on Sunday.

The ministry also distributed five kilograms of rice to each individual informal sector worker unable to work due to the impact of the emergency restriction. they included street vendors, small shop owners, motorcycle taxi drivers, and freelancers in Java and Bali.

“The data on the recipients of the five kilograms of rice aid are obtained from the local governments. Recipients are those who do not receive or are not recipients of the three types of regular social assistance, namely PKH, Non-Cash Food Assistance (BPNT) / Basic Food Cards and BST," she said.

The rice assistance has been distributed in districts and cities on the islands of Java and Bali since early July 2021.

The ministry provided 3,000 packages of five kilograms each for 122 districts and cities, and 6,000 packages of five kilograms each for six provincial capitals on the two islands affected by the restriction.

The Ministry of Social Affairs also disbursed BST assistance for 10 million beneficiary households during May-June, while 18.8 million families under the BPNT/Basic Food Card programs received additional aid for July and August.

The ministry has allocated budges for PKH amounted to Rp28.3 trillion and for BPNT/Basic Food Card at Rp42.3 trillion being channeled through state-owned banks.

For BST, a budget of Rp. 15.1 trillion was distributed by PT Pos Indonesia.

"With this social assistance, it is hoped that it will increase people's purchasing power," Rismaharini said//ANT

A delivery man rides a scooter on a quiet street in Vung Tau, Vietnam, on Jul 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh) - 

Vietnam put its entire southern region in a two-week lockdown starting midnight on Sunday (Jul 18), as confirmed COVID-19 cases exceeded 3,000 for the third day in a row.

The lockdown order includes the Mekong Delta and Ho Chi Minh City metropolis, the country’s financial and economic hub with more than 35 million people — nearly a third of Vietnam's population.

Ho Chi Minh City, the epicenter of the surge, had already announced a full lockdown a week ago, after dozens of cases were reported in late May. The city now accounts for most of the cases in the country with more than 2,000 daily.

“The situation is getting serious with a high rate of transmission, especially with the dangerous delta variant. We have to put the health and safety of the people as top priority,” Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh was quoted as saying in announcing the restrictions.

The government order bans all gatherings of more than two people in public places except for government offices, hospitals and a handful of essential businesses. People are requested to only leave home to buy necessities such as food, medicine, or for vital matters.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, head of the country’s committee for COVID-19 pandemic prevention, said the lockdown order must be applied strictly since the latest wave has spread to 57 of the country’s 63 municipalities and provinces while the vaccine supply is still limited.

“We have to keep the transmission rate at the lowest possible to ensure the health system functions effectively and is not being overloaded,” Dam said.

According to the Ministry of Health, Vietnam has received only about 6 million of the 124 million doses of vaccine it had secured through the UN-backed COVAX facility and in direct orders with vaccine manufactures.

A screenshot - Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati during the International Conference of the National Committee for Sharia Economy and Finance held virtually in Jakarta on Thursday (July 14, 2021)ANTARA/Agatha Olivia - 

The government is set to raise the budget for the pre-employment card program by Rp10 trillion to Rp30 trillion from Rp20 trillion earlier to help alleviate the financial burden of the people during the enforcement of emergency public activity restrictions (PPKM).

"We will raise the budget by Rp10 trillion to Rp30 trillion so the number of pre-employment program participants will increase by 2.8 million," Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said in an online press conference on Saturday night.

The government has originally set aside the budget for the pre-employment card program at Rp20 trillion to cover 5.5 million participants. With an additional Rp10 trillion budget, the number of participants will rise 2.8 million to 8.4 million, she said.

The decision to raise the budget for the program is based on the survey which suggested that the program proved effective to help job seekers and laid-off workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, she said.

Under the additional pre-employment card program, each recipient will get training aid of Rp1 million and incentive of Rp600 thousand per month for four months. In total, each recipient will get Rp2.4 million per month plus Rp50 thousand for participating in the survey.

The rise in the budget for pre-employment card program is part of the additional social assistance of Rp39.9 trillion to help alleviate the financial burden of the people during the emergency public activity restriction (PPKM) aimed at curbing an exponential spike in COVID-19 cases due to the spread of more infectious delta variant of coronavirus.

The government will soon evaluate the emergency PPKM for Java and Bali which will end on July 20, 2021.

The government is expected to announce whether or not to extend the emergency PPKM in two to three days by taking into account several factors including a daily rise in COVID-19 cases and bed occupancy rate at hospitals//ANT