VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesia recorded a weekly increase of 8.4 percent in the rate of coronavirus infections, with 26,365 fresh cases emerging within the last week, according to the Task Force for COVID-19 Response.

“The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases increased by 8.4 percent over the past week, where the five highest increases in cases were (seen) in West Java, up by 594, Banten 492, South Sulawesi, up by 459, Riau, up by 311, and Papua, up by 271,” Wiku Adisasmito, spokesperson for the COVID-19 task force said at an online press conference at the Presidential Office on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the five provinces with the highest rates of increase were: Jakarta (554 people per 100,000 population), South Kalimantan (242 people per 100 thousand population), Gorontalo (206 per 100 thousand population), East Kalimantan (191 people per 100 thousand population), and Bali (184 people per 100 thousand inhabitants).

The death toll also increased by 18.9 percent compared to the previous week, with Central Java recording 46 deaths, Jakarta 32, Aceh 26, North Sumatra 24, and West Sumatra 13.

The highest mortality rate owing to COVID-19 was recorded in East Java (7.29 percent), followed by Central Java (6.47 percent), South Sumatra (6.04 percent), West Nusa Tenggara (5.91 percent), and Bengkulu (5.85 percent).

The national death rate is at 3.9 percent.

Nationally, the number of patients recovering from COVID-19 rose by 35.8 percent compared to the previous week.

"This is a good condition and the percentage must be increased continuously. The highest increase in recovery was in Jakarta with 1,540 patients recovering (over the last seven days), West Java 1,093, Central Java 845, Aceh 730, and Riau Islands 247," Wiku added.

The highest recovery rate was recorded in North Maluku (89.71 percent), Gorontalo (87.19 percent), North Kalimantan (86.09 percent), Bangka Belitung Islands (84.89 percent), and South Kalimantan (83.51 percent).

As of Tuesday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Indonesia reached 252,923, with the addition of 4,071 fresh cases over the previous 24 hours. Total recoveries stood at 184,298 and deaths at 9,837. The number of suspected COVID-19 cases reached 109,721.

So far, confirmed cases have been reported in 34 provinces across Indonesia, with the highest number of cases recorded in Jakarta (64,554), followed by East Java (41,417), Central Java (19,982), West Java (18,077), and South Sulawesi (14,524). (Antaranews)

President Joko Widodo, Wednesday, delivered a speech at the virtual General Debate session of the 75th UN General Assembly in 2020. 

In his speech, President Jokowi said a number of views regarding the 75th anniversary of the UN this year. He said the UN must continue to improve itself in facing the changing world situation. The ongoing conflicts between countries, including the Covid-19 pandemic, are challenges that must be resolved by promoting multilateralism.

"The UN should continue to improve itself through reforms, revitalization, and efficiency. [It] needs to prove that multilateralism delivers, especially during the time of crisis, [it] needs to be more responsive and effective in tackling global challenges," the President said.

"And all of us bear the responsibility to further strengthen the UN, so the UN remains relevant and contributive in keeping with the challenges of time. The UN is not a mere building in the city of New York, rather it represents an ideal and shared commitment of all nations to realize world peace and prosperity for our future generations," he said.

"Indonesia has unwavering faith in the United Nations and multilateralism. Multilateralism is the only way that could guarantee equality," Jokowi said.

In addition, President Joko Widodo emphasized the importance of collective global leadership. Although each country in the world has its own agenda related to national interests. According to Jokowi, all countries also have a responsibility and must contribute to a solution to world peace.

"Collective global leadership has to be strengthened. We are all aware that when it comes to relations among countries in international relations, every country always protects its national interests. However, we must not forget that all of us have the responsibility to contribute to be part of the solution for peace, stability, and prosperity of the world. The world needs the spirit of collaboration and stronger global leadership to create a better world," he said.

In his speech, President Joko Widodo also emphasized the importance of cooperation in handling pandemics, both in terms of health and socio-economic impacts.

He said the Covid-19 vaccine is an important focus in handling the pandemic. Therefore, Jokowi encouraged all countries in the world to cooperate in ensuring equal access for all countries to vaccines that are safe and at affordable prices. (VOI)

President Joko Widodo said that the development of main ports in Indonesia should be consolidated and connected to complement and support one another.

"I want to remind that our major strategy, the direction of development of our main ports, including Patimban and Tanjung Priok, and 28 other main ports, should be consolidated," Jokowi said during a limited meeting on the acceleration of the Patimban national strategic project at the Bogor State Palace, in West Java, on Tuesday.

The president believes that consolidated construction of main ports will create a concrete and clear direction for the development, with each port playing its role while functioning as a complementary to other ports.

"The way forward will be clear and concrete. Each has its segment and complementary to one another," Jokowi remarked.

This will offer a broad impact, specifically in the functioning of ports, to accelerate and boost economic growth.

"It will boost growth in regional economic centers, enhance logistical services, and improve export efficiency and competitiveness," he said.

The president said that the northern coast of Java had been connected with a toll road, so it could become an economic super corridor, supported by the development of port infrastructure. (Antaranews)

The government built an infrastructure for the procurement of the COVID-19 vaccine to speed up the purchase and delivery of the SARS-CoV-2 anti-virus when it becomes available to the public.

"We have built infrastructure to smooth the process of procurement and delivery of vaccines when the vaccines are available," Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said during a joint work meeting with Commission I of the House of Representatives in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Retno did not say further information on the infrastructure for procurement and delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Retno's statement is likely related to the cooperation between Indonesia and the United Nations Children's Fund Organization (UNICEF) on September 16, 2020 on the procurement of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Health Ministry and UNICEF Indonesia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that regulates all stages of the procurement of the COVID-19 vaccine through a joint purchase scheme called the COVAX initiative.

In this cooperation scheme, UNICEF is tasked with coordinating the purchase and delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine from more than 140 countries, one of which is Indonesia. The goal is, each country has equal and affordable access to the SARS-CoV-2 antivirus.

Under the COVAX initiative, the purchase of the COVID-19 vaccine, once available, will be carried out through one door, namely from the UNICEF Procurement Division in Copenhagen, Denmark - one of the largest humanitarian aid procurement facilities in the world.

"UNICEF can order vaccines in large quantities and at lower costs," the UN agency said on its official website.

COVAX or the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility is an initiative established and coordinated by a number of multilateral agencies, namely WHO, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), and the Epidemic Preparation Innovation Coalition (CEPI).

In this collaboration, GAVI coordinates the vaccine procurement, while CEPI monitors research and development of vaccine candidates. WHO, through its official website, said that nine COVID-19 vaccine candidates are being evaluated by experts from COVAX.

The complete list of vaccine candidates supported by CEPI, including vaccines made by:

Inovio, US (Clinical Trial I / II);

Moderna, US (Clinical Trial I/II);

CureVac, Germany (Clinical Trial I);

Pasteur Institute / Merck / Themis, France / USA / Austria (Preclinical);

AstraZeneca / University of Oxford, UK and Northern Ireland (Clinical Trial III);

the University of Hong Kong, China (Preclinical);

Novavax, USA (Clinical Trials I / II);

Clover Biopharmaceutical, China (Clinical Trial I);

and the University of Queensland / CSL, Australia (Clinical Trial I).

"When the COVID-19 vaccine is available, Indonesia will probably get a vaccine dose of 20 percent of the total population," Retno said.

She added that the COVID-19 vaccine obtained from multilateral cooperation, including through COVAX, may only be available in 2021. (Antaranews)