VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

China tightens COVID-19 restrictions in two cities ahead of Chinese New Year - CGTN

Two Chinese cities south of Beijing further tightened COVID-19 restrictions on Saturday (Jan 9) as authorities race to stamp out a resurgence in infections. Mainland China reported 33 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, down from 53 reported a day earlier. The National Health Commission said in a statement that 14 of the 17 locally transmitted infections were in Hebei. The commission also reported 38 new asymptomatic cases, down from 57 a day earlier. 

China does not classify these asymptomatic patients, who have been infected by the coronavirus but are not yet showing any COVID-19 symptoms, as confirmed cases.​ A spike in the number of cases in the Hebei province, bordering Beijing, has sparked fresh lockdowns ahead of the Chinese New Year next month. Hebei has reported more than 130 COVID-19 cases in the past week, with more than 200 asymptomatic infections.

Most of the cases were in Shijiazhuang city, which along with its surrounding areas, is home to 11 million people. Several other infections were reported in neighbouring Xingtai city, home to 7 million. Shijiazhuang suspended subway operations from Saturday morning to aid "prevention and control of the outbreak", authorities said. Earlier this week, authorities banned people from leaving the city in an effort to curb the spread of the disease.The curbs come ahead of the Chinese New Year, when hundreds of millions criss-cross China to visit family and friends, with National Health Commission vice minister Zeng Yixin warning on Saturday that the festival "will further boost the risk of transmission"//CNA

Brisbane locks down as new COVID-19 virus strain put Australia on high alert - ABC

Australia's third-largest city of Brisbane was in its first day of a snap lockdown on Saturday (Jan 9), with officials elsewhere on "high alert" over the emergence of more contagious strain of COVID-19. The usually bustling shopping strip in the city centre was eerily quiet on Saturday, with only a small number of masked locals venturing out for essential reasons after officials announced a three-day lockdown from Friday evening.

"Quite surreal, like something from a movie set," local man Scott told AFP, in an empty city street.

"It's necessary - hopefully we will get through the next few days without any cases, that will allow us just to start to get back to normal."

The stay-at-home order for Brisbane's more than 2 million residents was triggered after the UK strain of the virus spread from a returned traveller to a cleaner at a quarantine hotel - Australia's first recorded local case of the variant.

The UK strain is among several emerging variants around the world believed to be more infectious than those which have spread previously.

Authorities also issued a warning for passengers of a flight that arrived in Brisbane from Melbourne earlier this month, after a woman tested positive for the UK strain despite already undergoing a period of isolation//CNA

Moslems performed Friday prayer in Al-Amjad Mosque in Tangerang District, Banten on Friday (Jan 8, 2021). The government would impose community activity restriction in some regions in Java and Bali on Januari 11-25 to cut COVID-19 transmission.

The Indonesian government has decided to tighten restrictions on the movement of people in Java and Bali from January 11-25, 2021, to curtail a spike in COVID-19 infections. The country has seen a record rise in daily COVID-19 cases for two consecutive days — it recorded 9,321 cases on January 7, 2021 and 10,617 on January 8. This has brought the total case tally to 808,340. Meanwhile, total recoveries have touched 666,883, while the death toll has reached 23,753.

Several other countries have also declared fresh lockdown in cities such as London, Beijing, Tokyo, Quebec, and Bangkok, to curb coronavirus transmission. Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, informed the press about the restrictions following a limited cabinet meeting on COVID-19 handling and immunization, led by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) in Jakarta on January 6, 2021.The restrictions will be fully tightened in Jakarta and its adjoining areas, including Bogor City, Bogor district, Depok, Bekasi City, and Bekasi’s districts, the minister affirmed.

In Banten province, restrictions will be tightened in Tangerang City, Tangerang district, South Tangerang, and Tangerang Raya. In West Java province, stricter measures will be imposed in Bandung, West Bandung district, and Cimahi district, in addition to Bogor and Bekasi, which are suburban areas of Jakarta. In Central Java, restrictions will be tightened in Semarang Raya, Solo Raya, and Banyumas Raya. The new measures will also be imposed in Gunung Kidul district, Sleman district, and Kulon Progo in Yogyakarta.

Tighter restrictions will be applied in Malang Raya and Surabaya Raya in East Java. Moreover, restrictions will be tightened in Denpasar City and Badung district in Bali//ANT

IT key to achieving auction target: Finance Ministry 

Improving information technology (IT) played a key role in achieving the target set for auctions last year, a Finance Ministry official said. The realized auction reached Rp26.19 trillion last year, outstripping the government-set target of Rp25 trillion, auction director at the directorate general of state property at the Finance Ministry, Joko Prihanto, said during an online discussion here on Friday. The achievement was extraordinary amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, he remarked.

"The key to the success rests with IT. It (the realized auction) stood at only Rp3 trillion in June, 2020. Therefore, I was surprised when it soared to Rp29.19 trillion at the end of 2020. Our forecast was only Rp25 trillion," he observed.The official website lelang go.id was upgraded with the help of IT because, during the pandemic, sellers could not attend auctions due to large-scale social restrictions (PSBB), he informed.

At the onset, the official website was designed to conduct auctions without requiring buyers to be physically present, but sellers were required to show up. As a result, the realization of auction reached Rp3 trillion until June, 2020 since both sellers and buyers failed to show up amid the pandemic, he said.

The upgrade to the official website allowed the auction process to take place virtually, thus, the physical presence of sellers and buyers was no longer required//ANT