VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is articulating a new-fangled strategy for campaign to propagate health protocols to stop the transmission of COVID-19, including by conducting bi-weekly awareness drives and involving Family Welfare Movement members.

"I want that our focus remains unwavering on health protocols and changing the people's outlook. I want focused (approaches). For instance, we focus on campaigning for the use of masks in two weeks and then in the next two weeks, we campaign on maintaining a safe distance or washing hands," the president noted at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, Monday.

Jokowi made the statement at a limited meeting themed "COVID-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery," with attendees comprising ministers of the Onward Indonesia Cabinet.

"I think it is important to not collectively campaign for hand-washing, maintaining distance, avoiding crowds, and wearing masks. If we do them together, I think the upper middle class citizens can quickly comprehend it, but it needs to be done one-by-one for the lower-class communities," the president remarked.(ANTARA)

Jayapura District's COVID-19 Task Force Spokesman Khairul. (ANTARA/HO-Jayapura District's Task Force for Acceleration of COVID-19 Handling)

The COVID-19 recoveries in Jayapura District, Papua Province, has increased from 163 to 181 people after 15 inpatients were confirmed to have fully recovered from the novel coronavirus disease on Saturday, according to the district's COVID-19 task force.

The 15 recovered patients had been discharged from a local hospital but they remain required to avoid crowds and practice preventive measures mandated in the government's health protocols, the task force's spokesman, Khairul, said in Sentani,Papua, Sunday.

The recovered patients had reunited with their respective families, he said, adding that as of Sunday, 91 COVID-19 patients are still hospitalized in the district, while the number of suspected COVID-19 cases was recorded at 1,096.

Some 2,413 other people have taken swab tests, and they currently wait for the resting results, he added.

Coronavirus infections initially surfaced in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019.

Since then, COVID-19 has spread to over 215 countries and territories, including 34 provinces of Indonesia, with a massive spurt in death toll.

Papua is one of the Indonesian provinces which has been striving to flatten the coronavirus curve.

In the wake of this pandemic situation, several khateebs of mosques in Indonesia holding the Idul Adha mass prayers on Friday reminded worshippers to support the government's endeavor to flatten the COVID-19 curve and to revive the country's economy.

The khateeb of Al Mujtahidin Mosque in the Abepura neighborhood of Jayapura City, Papua Province, also urged his Idul Adha mass prayer worshippers to pray for the Indonesian government's success in fighting the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

"The Idul Adha festivity is expected to offer a momentum to drive our government's spirit to fight the novel coronavirus disease," according to Abdul Azis, a Muslim preacher, who became the khateeb of the Idul Adha mass prayers at the mosque on Friday morning.

As of August 1, 2020, Indonesia recorded 1,560 fresh cases, while 2,012 people recovered from the coronavirus disease, according to the COVID-19 Handling Task Force.

The country's tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 109,936, including a total of 67,919 recoveries since President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) made an announcement of Indonesia's first confirmed cases on March 2, 2020.

The number of people succumbing to COVID-19 surged by 62, thereby bringing the death toll to 5,193.

A total of 11,190 specimens from 9,355 people were examined at 320 laboratories across Indonesia on Saturday noon, thereby bringing the total number of specimens examined to 1,517,381 from 875,894 people. (ANTARA)

People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Bambang Soesatyo in Bali (mpr.go.id)

People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Bambang Soesatyo praised Balinese people's consistency in practicing preventive measures mandated in health protocols to help boost the economic recovery of this Indonesia's world-class tourist destination.

The implementation of the government's mandated health protocols was observed in the Balinese people's daily lives, and along with traditional guards, locally known as pecalang, heads of villages monitor it, he said in a statement in Jakarta Sunday.

"The Balinese people have prioritized their local wisdoms called 'Pararem Gering COVID-19' in promoting a public discipline amid the novel coronavirus pandemic situation," he said regarding his meeting with the Pecalangs in Jimbaran Village on Saturday.

In Bali, under the tight surveillance of the Pecalangs, each villager wanting to venture outdoors must have their village head's permit. They are also obliged to wear face masks, he said.

The violators of this mandated health protocols would be given social sanctions, such as providing five kilograms of rice, sweeping road, and cleaning public facilities, he said.

"The pecalangs have become the vanguards to ensure that their residents are well disciplined in supporting the COVID-19-related prevention efforts," Bambang Soesatyo said.

As a result of this highly-disciplined communities, the economic recovery of this Indonesia's resort island could immediately be reached, he said.

oronavirus infections initially surfaced in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019.

Since then, COVID-19 has spread to over 215 countries and territories, including 34 provinces of Indonesia, with a huge rise in death toll.

This COVID-19 pandemic has become a serious health and economic problem owing to its tremendous impacts on Indonesia's business sectors, including tourism industry.

According to the Jakarta Post quoting data from the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (July 14, 2020), the coronavirus pandemic has erased around Rp 85 trillion (US$5.87 billion) of Indonesia's tourism revenue.

The coronavirus pandemic has not only disrupted global supply chains but it has also affected aviation service industries owing to the imposition of travel restrictions and border closure in many countries.

As of August 1, 2020, Indonesia recorded 1,560 fresh cases, while 2,012 people recovered from the coronavirus disease, according to the COVID-19 Handling Task Force.

The country's tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 109,936, including a total of 67,919 recoveries since President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) made an announcement of Indonesia's first confirmed cases on March 2, 2020.

The number of people succumbing to COVID-19 surged by 62, thereby bringing the death toll to 5,193.

A total of 11,190 specimens from 9,355 people were examined at 320 laboratories across Indonesia on Saturday noon, thereby bringing the total number of specimens examined to 1,517,381 from 875,894 people. (ANTARA)

Head of the Research and Development Agency of the Industry Ministry Doddy Rahadi. ANTARA/Industry Ministry Public Relations/sh

The Industry Ministry has encouraged cosmetic industry to use local natural resource as raw material, with the rich biodiversity in Indonesia.

The move will encourage development of import substitution and materialize national self-reliance, head of the ministry's research and development agency Doddy Rahadi said in a statement in Jakarta on Sunday.

"To increase the capability and capacity of our cosmetic industry, one strategy is by optimizing the technology to result an innovation. This is in accordance to our road map of Making Indonesia 4.0 as a preparation toward the industry 4.0 era," Doddy said.

He noted that the agency's unit in chemical and packaging (BBKK) in Jakarta has focused on research on natural-based cosmetic and pharmaceutical material.

"Cosmetic products has become a trend or life style, and women are not the only consumers. In addition, consumers now prefers back-to-nature skincare," he said.

According to Doddy, Indonesia has the advantage compared to other natural-based cosmetic producers such as China, Malaysia and Thailand.

"Indonesia has potential sources of herbal that grow in many regions in which 30 thousand out of 40 thousand herbal species in the world grow in Indonesia. This is potential to be developed with prospective demands in both local and global markets," he remarked.

Data of the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) showed that chemical, pharmaceutical, and traditional medicine industries (including cosmetics) have recorded 5.59 percent of growth in the first quarter of 2020.

The industries have contributed significantly to the country's foreign exchange revenue with export reached US$317 million in the first semester of 2020 or increase 15.2 percent compared to that of 2019 despite pressures from the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This has indicated that Indonesia's pharmaceutical industry has grown fast and is capable to supply some 70 percent of domestic drug demand," Doddy said. (ANTARA)