VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

President Joko Widodo ordered Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto to plan examinations for Covid-19 transmission in Indonesia.

"Regarding [Covid-19] testing, the Ministry of Health will make a really good planning design," President Jokowi said when chairing the Cabinet Meeting on Health Management and National Economic Recovery in 2021 at the State Palace on Monday.

President Jokowi said he did not want to see a large disparity between provinces in terms of COVID-19 testing.

"I don't want to see some provinces have very high testing, but some others are very low," he explained.

He told the Health Minister to plan comprehensively to detect which areas are still high in cases and which are sloping.

"The planning design must be comprehensive. We need planning to see how many labs there are in a province, how many reagents we must distribute per province, so we can see where the positive cases are," Jokowi said.

Jokowi said that the government prioritized public health issues during the COVID-19 pandemic. If health problems are handled properly, the national economy would also improve and recover to a positive economic growth trend.

"We want to restart the economic sector as soon as possible. Don't let the COVID-19 not handled properly," Jokowi concluded.

President Joko Widodo wants to reach 30,000 tests per day. However, due to limited medical equipment, only 28,000 tests can be taken per day. (RRI)

President Joko Widodo appealed to all parties, including his ministers and also the public, that during the crisis period due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which is still lurking, handling the pandemic still has to be taken seriously.

In a briefing at the Plenary Cabinet Session at the State Palace on Monday, Jokowi said that he had ordered the Covid-19 Handling Committee to focus on handling the COVID-19.

"I want to order the ranks of the Committee for Handling COVID-19 and National Economic Recovery, Health Minister, National Army, National Police, to really make matters related to COVID-19 become our business. The economy will follow. If the handling of COVID-19 is good, the economy will also be good," President Jokowi said.

The President warned to minimize the emergence of new clusters, such as office clusters, family clusters, and later election clusters.

"Be careful with the office cluster, family cluster, also the Regional Election cluster. Because what we always go after is public places, but we also have to be careful with the family cluster. Because when we get home we feel safe when we're supposed to stay cautious. At the office, health protocols must not loosen," he said.

Based on data from the Covid-19 Task Force on Sunday, the number of positive cases of Covid-19 in Indonesia had reached 194,109 cases, with 138,575 recoveries and 8,025 deaths. (RRI)

Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) presents Jazz Unite, a virtual jazz concert in commemorating its anniversary on Monday.

Singers lineup including Citra Scholastika, band Payung Teduh, Finggo and Friends, and Madame & Toean.

The concert will start at 8 PM- 10 PM. Due to the Covid-19 health protocols, the event will be held virtually.

Jazz Unite can be accessed through RRIplay Go, RRI radio, RRI Net, and rri.co.id live streaming.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman told U.S. President Donald Trump in a phone call on Sunday that the kingdom was eager to achieve a fair and permanent solution to the Palestinian issue, which he said was the main starting point of the kingdom’s proposed Arab Peace Initiative, the state news agency reported.

The leaders spoke by phone following a historic U.S. brokered accord last month under which the United Arab Emirates agreed to become the third Arab state to normalize ties with Israel after Egypt and Jordan.

King Salman told Trump he appreciated U.S. efforts to support peace and that Saudi Arabia wanted to see a fair and permanent solution to the Palestinian issue based on the Arab Peace Initiative proposed by the kingdom in 2002.

Under the proposal, Arab nations have offered Israel normalized ties in return for a statehood deal with the Palestinians and full Israeli withdrawal from territory captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam and the site of its holiest shrines, does not recognize Israel.

However, this month the kingdom said it would allow flights between UAE and Israel, including by Israeli airliners, to use its airspace.

White House adviser and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner have said he hopes another Arab country normalizes ties within months.

No other Arab state has said so far it is considering following the UAE.

King Salman’s son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Kushner discussed the need for the Palestinians and the Israelis to resume negotiations and reach a lasting peace after Kushner visited the UAE last month.

The UAE-Israel deal was met by overwhelming Palestinian opposition. (Reuters)