an illustration - The quake's epicenter on Morotai Island, North Maluku

A 6.8-magnitude earthquake jolting Morotai District, North Maluku Province, on Thursday (June 4), caused damage to at least 312 homes in six sub-districts, Raditya Jati, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency’s (BNPB’s) spokesman, reported.

"Based on data as of Saturday (June 6) at 11:39 a.m. local time, the earthquake damaged 312 homes, including 264 homes that incurred slight damage, 34 experiencing moderate damage, and 14 suffering severe damage," Jati noted in a statement in Jakarta on Sunday.

The earthquake hit the six sub-districts of South Morotai, East Morotai, North Morotai, Morotai Jaya, West South Morotai, and Rau Island.

Morotai Jaya, North Morotai, and South Morotai bore the maximum brunt of the natural disaster.

"A total of 143 households have been affected. The earthquake also caused damage to 12 public facility buildings," he revealed.

The earthquake, measuring 6.8 on the Richter Scale, rattled North Maluku on Thursday (June 4) at 15:49 Western Indonesian Standard Time (WIB).

The quake's epicenter was located at 2.93 degrees northern latitude and 128.19 degrees eastern longitude, or 99 kilometers north of Daruba, Morotai Island, and at a depth of 111 kilometers.

The earthquake was felt in Morotai at Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) IV, resulting in panic-stricken locals fleeing their homes.

The residents of Manado, Bitung, Minahasa, Bolmong, Ternate, Sitaro, Tahuna, Tobelo, Sofifi, and Talaud felt the tremor at II-III MMI. (ANTARA)

New confirmed COVID-19 cases in Indonesia stood at 672, while those recovering from the disease reached 591 on Sunday, Achmad Yurianto, the government's spokesman for COVID response, stated.

"The country's total count of confirmed cases has until now reached 31,186, while the total number of those recovering (from the disease) touched 10,498," Yurianto remarked at a press conference in Jakarta on Sunday.

The spokesman noted that Jakarta had emerged as the hotbed for COVID-19, with 163 cases, followed by 113 cases in East Java, 64 cases in South Sulawesi, 59 cases in Papua, and 51 cases in Central Java.

On the other hand, Jakarta and East Java also registered the highest number of recoveries, reaching 294 and 48 respectively.

The number of patients recovering from the disease in West Java increased by 99, while the number of new confirmed cases touched 28, he remarked.

Meanwhile, below 10 cases were reported in 21 provinces, while no new cases were found in the eight provinces of Aceh, Bengkulu, Jambi, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, North Sumatra, Riau, and East Nusa Tenggara.

"The number of deaths increased by 50, thereby bringing the death toll to 1,851," Yurianto noted.

Some 11,924 new specimens were examined and verified on Sunday until 12:00 WIB (Western Indonesian Standard Time), thereby bringing the total number of specimens examined, both through molecular rapid tests and PCR, to 405,992 taken from 269,146 people. Of the total figure, 31,186 people had tested positive, while the test results came negative for 237,960 individuals.

"The number of people under monitoring (ODP) reached 40,370, while those under surveillance (PDP) stood at 14,197," he stated.

Yurianto appealed to Indonesians to abide by the stringent health protocols applied by the government while transitioning to the new normal. (ANTARA)

Shanghai (VOI News) - Indonesia can utilize the economic recovery of China for the benefit of Indonesia and the recovery of the Indonesian economy. This was conveyed by the Consul General of the Republic of Indonesia in Shanghai, Denny Wachyudi Kurnia in an interview with Voice of Indonesia contributor, Kevin Zhao, in Shanghai, China, recently. He also explained that the People's Republic of China was able to overcome Covid-19 pandemic and the economy was back to normal. According to him, Shanghai provides great opportunities in trade and investment.

“More than one third of exports from Indonesia to China go to Shanghai region and beyond. So, maybe the amount is around US$30 billion dollars from the total exports to China around US$75 billion dollars. This continues to be encouraged, and one way to increase exports is by increasing investment because the products we produce will depend on the amount of investment we make. So, increasing exports also improve quality,” Denny Kurnia said.

Denny Wachyudi Kurnia further stated that by Indonesia must utilize the recovery of the condition in China from the Covid-19 pandemic attacking the country at the end of December 2019 to invite the Chinese tourists to come to Indonesia.

“Then, tourism also needs to be utilized. China is a major tourist source for Indonesia. In one year, there are two million tourists visiting Indonesia from China and we must try to re-normalize it,” said Denny Kurnia.

According to Denny Kurnia, there is a great opportunity from the economic recovery of the People's Republic of China as the world’s second largest country after the USA and becomes the driving engine of the world economy. He is optimistic that Indonesia has prepared for it. (Kevin Zhao/NV/Trans by PUTRI)

Airlangga University Rector Prof. Mohammad Nasih (right) (ANTARA/HO-PIH Unair/WI)

Some 17 researchers of Airlangga University (Unair) in Surabaya, East Java, officially received President Joko Widodo’s mandate to conduct research and innovation projects to expedite the Indonesian government's endeavors to handle the COVID-19 pandemic.

The president's letter containing the mandate was symbolically received by Unair Rector Professor Mohammad Nasih from Head of the COVID-19 Research and Innovation Consortium Professor Ali Ghufron Mukti through a virtual event on Friday.

Professor Mohammad Nasih expressed gratitude to the government for its mandate while also echoing his university's research team members unwavering commitment to partaking in the efforts to mitigate the impacts of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) along with their colleagues from the Supuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS).

The government-sponsored research and innovation projects will prioritize four areas: prevention, filtering and diagnosis; medical equipment and supporting devices; medicines and therapies; and social humanities.

"Unair remains committed to participating in the efforts to handle the COVID-19 pandemic, right from the upstream to downstream; starting from mitigation to discovery of the COVID-19 vaccine," he affirmed.

Given that overseas institutions are often behind vaccine development and production, Unair will leave no stone unturned in the endeavors to develop a COVID-19 vaccine for Indonesians by using local samples. However, this project will be conducted through collaboration with overseas researchers.

In connection with this program, the Indonesian Research and Technology Ministry revealed it had accrued funds reaching almost Rp200 billion for financing research on developing a vaccine, medicines, and other innovative products to support Indonesia's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We believe that the funds we have collected are sufficient to finance research and innovation efforts up to the prototype stage," Research and Technology Minister Bambang P. S. Brodjonegoro noted in a statement circulated on YouTube on May 27.

The funds have been sourced from LPDP's Endowment Fund for Research, universities, and the Research and Technology Ministry's agencies, including the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), and Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT).

The minister explained that the funds will not be utilized merely to finance Indonesian researchers' efforts to produce prototypes of products direly needed by the country to fight coronavirus, including vaccines, drugs, and health equipment.

Furthermore, the ministry allotted early-stage funding of Rp5 billion to support research for COVID-19 vaccine development in the country.

"Of course, we are going to channel more funds as and when required," he added. (ANTARA)