VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta (VOI News) - Brazil firstly reported a Covid-19 case on February 26, 2020, when a 62-year-old male resident of Sao Paulo was diagnosed positive for the Covid-19 virus. The spread of Covid-19 in Brazil was so rapid that on 18 March 2020 the Brazilian government declared a state of emergency as the number of people exposed to the virus continued to increase. The Indonesian Ambassador to Brazil, Edi Yusup, in a special telephone interview with Voice of Indonesia in Jakarta on Friday (3/4), said that until now no Indonesian citizen in Brazil had been exposed to the Covid-19 virus. Edi Yusup added that the Indonesian Embassy in Brasilia established close communication through the whatsapp group and distributing 3 (three) hotline numbers to Indonesian citizens and Indonesian diaspora in Brazil.

"The Indonesian Embassy has also distributed hotline numbers that can be contacted 24 hours 7 days. We give 3 numbers that can be hotlines. In addition, because there are only small number of Indonesian citizens in Brazil, we have a whatsapp group, so there are 2 whatsapp groups, one whatsapp group for Indonesian citizens in Brazil and another whatsapp group for the Indonesian Diaspora in Bazil. And Alhamdulillah this whatsapp group is quite active, almost every day we always have communication through the whatsapp group. One thing for sure, is that the Indonesian Embassy in Brazil will try its best to serve and protect Indonesian friends in Brazil,"said Edi Yusup.

Ambassador Edi Yusup further said that up to 2 April 2020, there were 7,910 positive cases of the Covid-19 virus and 299 people had died. The percentage of mortality rate is still low namely at 3.8 percent. The largest spread of Covid-19 is in the city of Sao Paulo, followed by Rio De Jeneiro and Brasilia. (VOI / ANI) 

The latest Asian Development Bank (ADB) report projects that Indonesia’s economy will slow down or only record a growth of some 2.5 percent in 2020, down from five percent in 2019 over the COVID-19 pandemic. Although Indonesia has a strong macroeconomic foundation, the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak has changed the direction of the country's economy, with deteriorating external environmental conditions and weakening domestic demand, ADB Director for Indonesia Winfried Wicklein, noted in a statement in Jakarta on Friday as quoted by Antara. Domestic demand is expected to weaken in line with declining business and consumer sentiment. However, in tune with the recovery of the world economy next year, Indonesia's growth is projected to gain momentum, bolstered by reforms in the investment sector//ANT

The Indonesian Government has received 10 thousand COVID-19 test kits and protective equipment from Singapore to aid efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak in the country. Singaporean Ambassador to Indonesia Anil Kumar Nayar handed over the assistance to Indonesian Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian at the Home Affairs Ministry on Friday. The assistance reflects the Singapore government's concrete support for Indonesia, Mr Karnavian said as quoted by Antara. Singapore had earlier extended similar assistance to the Batam municipal government in Riau Islands Province, which borders Singapore. The minister said he would hand over the COVID-19 test kits and protective equipment received from Singapore to the COVID-19 Response Task Force of the Health Ministry//Ant

The Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology in Jakarta, Friday, received donation worth Rp10 billion from pharmaceutical firm PT Tempo Scan Pacific, that will be channeled for intensifying COVID-19-related examination at its laboratory facilities. The donated funds were received through the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Task Force for Accelerating COVID-19 Handling, Head of the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology Amin Subandrio notified journalists here as quoted by Antara. The institute's laboratory is one of those selected by the Indonesian government to assist the Health Ministry to detect harmful microbes and the novel coronavirus, he revealed, adding that the Eijkman Institute has, until now, examined nearly three thousand test samples. Some 10 percent of those samples revealed positive results. The Eijkman Institute requires the support of various parties to enable it to double its laboratory capacity, he stated//Ant