VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

DKI Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan revealed through a video recording on Tuesday of having tested positive for COVID-19 and reminded citizens of the nature of the virus.

"Let my current condition be a reminder that COVID-19 can infect anyone. Thus, we must remain careful," Baswedan noted during the video recording.

The former education and culture minister spoke of undergoing independent quarantine for the next two weeks after testing positive for COVID-19 despite being asymptomatic.

Baswedan also expressed his keenness to carry on working and leading scheduled meetings to be held virtually.

"I will continue to work and lead virtual meetings. Since March, we have been accustomed to working virtually, and Insha Allah (God Willing), the policy-making processes will not be disturbed," he affirmed.

In his statement, Baswedan confirmed to have tested positive for COVID-19 based on results of the PCR swab test on Tuesday morning.

On Monday (November 30) afternoon, the Jakarta governor had undergone a second PCR swab test at the DKI Jakarta City Hall following a routine one on Wednesday (November 25), for which the result came back negative.

Baswedan had also been subject to an antigen swab test on Sunday (November 29) after Deputy Governor Ahmad Riza had tested positive for COVID-19. The results came back negative. A few days earlier, the two had partaken in a meeting together.

The Jakarta governor further explained that those having come in close contact with him had undergone PCR swab tests. "I will isolate myself independently, separated from my family. Meanwhile, my family will remain in a private residence," he noted.

Baswedan was also optimistic that all those having interacted with him over the past few days would take the requisite steps, including conducting self-isolation or undergoing the PCR swab test.

"Anyone who has met me in the last few days can contact the nearest community health centers (Puskesmas) to undergo a swab test. Of course, the tracing team from the Health Office will also record and contact my close contacts. All related procedures will be conducted," he remarked.

Furthermore, the governor's office unit will be closed in line with the implemented protocols. Similarly, the Deputy Governor's office unit in the City Hall complex has been closed.

The main City Hall building, located separately from the governor and deputy governor's offices, will continue to operate under stringent health protocols.

To this end, Baswedan has also urged the public to diligently follow the 3M practices, including wearing masks, maintaining distance, and washing hands diligently.

"Please pray for a speedy recovery and may Allah SWT protect us all and bless the city of Jakarta," he stated. (Antaranews)

The government has concentrated on public health as a response to handle the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as it would be the most apposite means to expedite economic recovery, according to the Health Ministry.

"The health issue is still the main priority," an advisor on health economics of the ministry Dr H Mohamad Subuh stated during a virtual dialogue on vaccination here on Tuesday.

The COVID-19 pandemic has burdened the public on all fronts, not only in the area of health but also economy, security, and social affairs, he noted.

Subuh believes that the effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among members of the public should be followed by suitable measures to drive economic recovery.

The advisor noted that the government's investment in the health sector would cut the chain of transmission of COVID-19 and concurrently boost the economy.

"With healthy individuals, families, and communities, productivity will increase and followed by an increase in individual as well as state income," he stated.

Subuh reiterated that the decision to focus on the health sector is the right and most efficient move to recover the economy amid the constraints of resources. (Antaranews)

China has provided North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his family with an experimental coronavirus vaccine, a U.S. analyst said on Tuesday, citing two unidentified Japanese intelligence sources.

Harry Kazianis, a North Korea expert at the Center for the National Interest think tank in Washington, said the Kims and several senior North Korean officials had been vaccinated.

It was unclear which company had supplied its drug candidate to the Kims and whether it had proven to be safe, he added.

“Kim Jong Un and multiple other high-ranking officials within the Kim family and leadership network have been vaccinated for coronavirus within the last two to three weeks thanks to a vaccine candidate supplied by the Chinese government,” Kazianis wrote in an article for online outlet 19FortyFive.

Citing U.S. medical scientist Peter J. Hotez, he said at least three Chinese companies were developing a coronavirus vaccine, including Sinovac Biotech Ltd, CanSinoBio and Sinophram Group.

Sinophram says its candidate has been used by nearly one million people in China, although none of the firms was known to have publicly launched Phase 3 clinical trials of their experimental COVID-19 drugs.

North Korea has not confirmed any coronavirus infections, but South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) has said an outbreak there cannot be ruled out as the country had trade and people-to-people exchanges with China - the source of the pandemic - before shutting the border in late January.

Microsoft said last month that two North Korean hacking groups had tried to break into the network of vaccine developers in multiple countries, without specifying the companies targeted. Sources told Reuters they included British drugmaker AstraZeneca.

The NIS said last week it had foiled North Korea’s attempts to hack into South Korean COVID-19 vaccine makers. (Reuters)

The 2020 prize for Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year went to an obvious choice: pandemic.

The term had the most online dictionary lookups of any word, Merriam-Webster said on its website, after a year in which at least 1.4 million people globally have died from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Sometimes a single word defines an era, and it’s fitting that in this exceptional - and exceptionally difficult - year, a single word came immediately to the fore,” the dictionary publisher said.

Pandemic is defined as “an outbreak of a disease that occurs over a wide geographic area (such as multiple countries or continents) and typically affects a significant proportion of the population,” according to Merriam-Webster.com.

The word’s Greek roots are “pan,” meaning all or every and “demos,” meaning people, Merriam-Webster said.

Dictionary lookups skyrocketed on March 11 when the World Health Organization officially labeled COVID-19 a pandemic.

The word “saw the single largest spike in dictionary traffic in 2020, showing an increase of 115,806% over lookups on that day in 2019,” said the company, founded in 1831.

Last year’s winner was “they” as used to describe someone who does not identify as male nor female. That follows winners “justice” in 2018, “feminism” in 2017 and “surreal” in 2016. (Reuters)