VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto received an invitation from US Secretary of Defence Mark Esper, to visit the United States on October 15-19, 2020, to deliberate on details of bilateral cooperation in the defense field.

Spokesman for the Indonesian Defence Minister Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak noted in a written statement released on Thursday said that the invitation is intended to continue talks on details of bilateral cooperation in the defense field.

In accordance with its free and active foreign policy, Indonesia is not involved in any foreign military alliance, but it solely conducts defence diplomacy in various countries, Simanjutak remarked as quoted by Antara.

Hence, Subianto will accept the US government’s official invitation through Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, he noted. (Antaranews)

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Wishnutama Kusubandio supports innovation to excite tourism amid the COVID-19 pandemic through virtual tours as a promotional event while waiting for national borders to be opened to tourists.

"This is a very important period for digital ecosystem players so that when things get better, digital platforms can be better used to advance Indonesian tourism," Wishutama said at a virtual press conference, Thursday.

Wishnutama said the COVID-10 pandemic accelerated the digitization process, and he encouraged industry and society to take advantage of technology in creating interesting content so that it could be an alternative for tourists who miss exploring Indonesia. "We will continue to support innovative things," he said.

Traveloka in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of the Republic of Indonesia (Kemenparekraf) launched an innovative Virtual Tour from Online Xperience, a solution to get an exciting, interactive and inspiring experience in a variety of beautiful homeland tourist destinations without leaving home.

Wishnutama welcomes the synergy between various parties in creating innovations in the digital world that can entertain people who cannot travel and solutions for guides who are also affected by the pandemic.

"Now the important thing is to collaborate so we can find solutions through the pandemic," he said.

He hopes that this collaboration can create excellent results in restoring national tourism and reviving the tourism industry and creative economy.

"This is an example of collaboration in tourism and the creative economy. If we collaborate, it will produce extraordinary innovations," he said.

He said the government had prioritized enforcing health protocols, one of which was through implementing health protocols in tourist destinations with the Indonesia CARE campaign. (Antaranews)

The spokesperson for the COVID-19 Task Force Wiku Adisasmito said vaccines do not guarantee for ending the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia.

"Vaccines are not the only guarantee for the completion of the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia," Wiku said at a press conference in Jakarta, Thursday.

Wiku said the vaccine is a medical intervention to strengthen people's immunity amid a pandemic. He emphasized that the vaccination program should pay attention to public awareness and discipline of health protocols.

"Without discipline on health protocols, efforts to resolve the pandemic will be difficult," said Wiku.

On Oct. 5, 2020, President Joko Widodo signed Presidential Regulation Number 99 of 2020 concerning Vaccines Procurement and Implementation of Vaccinations in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

A number of contents of the Presidential Regulation on vaccines include affirming the acceleration of procurement of the COVID-19 vaccine and the implementation of vaccinations.

Wiku said the vaccination price is still being formulated by the government. (Antaranews)

The COVID-19 Task Force reported 4,850 new positive cases of COVID-19 on Thursday at 12.00 WIB, bringing the total cases of COVID-19 in Indonesia to 320,564 cases. 

Based on the data, the number of recovered patients per day increased by 3,769 people, bringing the total number of COVID-19 patients who have successfully recovered to 244,060 people.

Meanwhile, there are 108 death cases, totaling to 11,580 deaths from 43,389 specimen samples.

The cumulative number of specimens examined in Indonesia is 3,639,108 specimens.

The total number of suspects per day is 144,072 people. 

COVID-19 has infected 34 provinces in the country covering 499 districts and cities or an increase in one area compared to the previous day. 

The addition of new positive cases today is in Jakarta with 1,182 cases, West Java 597 cases, Central Java 348 cases, East Java 347 cases, Riau 244 cases, East Kalimantan 238 cases, South Sulawesi 213 cases, West Papua 210 cases, West Sumatra 201 cases, and Aceh 169 cases. 

There are five provinces that reported the addition of new cases of less than 10 people, namely Gorontalo with 9 new cases, North Kalimantan and West Sulawesi with 6 new cases each, North Maluku 5 new cases, and Bangka Belitung 2 new cases. 
East Java Province is the region with the most deaths per day, namely 24 people. Then Jakarta followed with 17 deaths and East Kalimantan 11 deaths. 

Provinces that reported the most recovered patients today are Jakarta with 1,044 recovered cases, followed by East Java with 334 recovered cases, West Java with 325 recovered cases, Central Java with 270 recovered cases, and East Kalimantan with 238 recovered cases. 

As of today, the cumulative data on positive COVID-19 cases in Indonesia mostly occurred in Jakarta with 83,372 cases followed by East Java 46,095 cases, West Java 26,259 cases, Central Java 25,261 cases, and South Sulawesi 16,298 cases. 

Most recovered patients are in DKI Jakarta 68,260 people, East Java 39,607 people, Central Java 17,887 people, West Java 15,966 people, and South Sulawesi 13,581 people. 

Meanwhile, the highest number of deaths occurred in East Java, namely 3,374 people, followed by DKI Jakarta 1,834 people, Central Java 1,472 people, West Java 527 people, North Sumatra 459 people and South Kalimantan 438 people. (Antaranews)