VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud MD has called on Muslims across the nation to perform the Idul Fitri 1441 Hijri prayer at home.

"During the COVID-19 pandemic, let us perform the Eid al-Fitr prayer and conduct the halal bi halal (post-Eid al-Fitr gathering) at home, with a limited number of people," Mahfud MD stated in Jakarta on Friday.

The minister remarked that other Islamic organizations, including the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), Muhammadiyah, and Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), have made the call to people to pray at home.

The minister affirmed that the call to pray at home was not only applicable in Indonesia but also in Saudi Arabia.

"The holy mosque in Mecca and Medina, Grand Mosque, and Nabawi Mosque were also closed to safeguard Muslims from the spread of COVID-19," he remarked.

To this end, Mahfud has invited Muslims to solemnly perform the Eid al-Fitr prayer at home.

"The post-Eid al-Fitr gathering does not have to be crowded but can also be done virtually, or if meeting with the main family is obligatory, then to limit time and maintain a safe distance," Mahfud expounded.

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin had earlier emphasized to desist from conducting worship activities, including prayers in congregation, during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in areas declared as red zones.

"We should worship at home, i.e. the tarawih prayers, reading Qur'an at home. Worship activities in the red zone should not be performed in a mosque in congregation," Amin stated.

Amin is fully sentient of the fact that worship in congregation will reap huge rewards, though during the current COVID-19 pandemic, such activities would cause harm if they were to be continued.

"At the moment, we are in an apprehensive situation. Indeed, there is a lot of merit in congregation, but there is danger," Vice President Amin, concurrently the non-active chairperson of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), remarked.

Amin further expounded that the appeal to not worship in congregation during the pandemic incorporated suggestions from the Prophet Muhammad, who stated that Muslims must not hurt themselves and others.

Worshiping in the congregation during a pandemic is akin to increasing the risk to the community and other Muslims.

"Reciting Qur'an, performing i'tikaf (a period of staying in a mosque) during the last 10 days of the holy month in the mosque can potentially raise the risk of COVID-19 transmission. We can be infected and transmit the disease since we are carriers," he stated.

Hence, Amin is optimistic that the people would be able to understand the current pandemic situation and be heedful of the appeal to worship in their respective homes, especially during Ramadan.(ANTARA)

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).(ANTARA)

Indonesia should be able to produce its own COVID-19 vaccine based on the domestic viral genome, according to President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).

Jokowi expressed hope while delivering his remarks during an official launch of research, technology, and innovation products in response to the COVID-19 pandemic held via videoconference here on Wednesday.

"We must be able to produce our own vaccines. The Eijkman Institute has obtained seven genome sequences. A complete viral genome that is beneficial for vaccine development," the president expounded.

The head of state was pleased to see that the researchers had also continued to work to find effective drugs and therapies for treating COVID-19.

"The work does not stop at the laboratory and not merely prototypes. However, it must continue and be mass-produced to meet domestic demand and for exports," he remarked.

To this end, Jokowi called to bolster cooperation and collaboration among stakeholders, including research and development institutions, universities, business entities, industries, and the society, in general.

The president called on the country's industries to have the pluck to invest while also emphasizing that the public should opt for domestic products.

"We must be proud of products made in Indonesia. We must continue to improve conducive ecosystems -- ecosystems for growth, development of innovation, and industrialization. (We must) also be proud of domestic products," he remarked.

In the meantime, Indonesia’s count of coronavirus cases burgeoned to 18,496, as of Tuesday, with 4,467 people recovering from the virus and 1,221 individuals succumbing to the disease, according to Achmad Yurianto, the government's spokesperson for COVID-19 response.

"Let us take a broad look. (We can see) that transmission is still occurring," Yurianto remarked during a press conference held by the Task Force for the Acceleration of COVID-19 Response on Tuesday at Graha BNPB here.

Since Monday noon, Indonesia has recorded 486 new confirmed cases, thereby bringing the total to 18,496 cases. Coronavirus infections have been reported across 390 districts and cities in 34 provinces in the country. (ANTARA)

Professor of Cell Biology at Brawijaya University in Malang, East Java, Sutiman (ANTARA/HO/UNIVERSITAS BRAWIJAYA/End)

A professor of cell biology at Malang-based Brawijaya University has said the tendency of thecoronavirus to mutate into local virus as that has made it difficult for researchers to develop a universal vaccine.

"The coronavirus has spread all over the world, and has mutated into local virus. As if it has shown an anti-globalization movement," Professor Sutiman said in Malang, East Java Province, on Wednesday while commenting on researchers' efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine.  

This behavior of COVID-19 has made researchers uneasy as they try to develop a single vaccine that is fit for all people, irrespective of location, he said, adding that this has even become a hurdle for the medical industry’s current school of thought on developing vaccines or medicines.

In this regard, Sutiman said, the argument supporting the consumption of "jamu" (traditional herbal drink) is not aimed at curing specific diseases. Instead, it is aimed at maintaining the quality of life so that the benefits of "jamu" could potentially help tackle COVID-19, he added.

Traditionally, consuming “jamu” is believed to help the human body to survive and ward off disease, he explained. Amid the pandemic, “jamu”, a product of local wisdom, often rejected by modern medicine, has become well-known.

Another challenging reality related to the coronavirus pandemic is the fact that there are people who are asymptomatic (OTGs), that is, they do not present any COVID-19 symptoms, Sutiman said.

He said he believes that a majority of the people can be categorized as OTGs. They look healthy so they are able to perform routine activities, but they can potentially transmit the disease to other people, he noted.

Indonesia has been battling the spread of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) over the past three months. The Indonesian Government officially announced the country's first two confirmed COVID-19 cases on March 2 this year.

The initial outbreak of the deadly virus was reported in Wuhan at the end of December, 2019. China has been blamed for its lack of transparency and goodwill to tell the truth from the beginning that the virus could transmit among humans, due to which COVID-19 spread across the world.

The US, which has seen a large number of COVID-19 deaths, has accused China of having "intentionally concealed the severity of the coronavirus from the international community" (CNN, May 4, 2020).

Washington argued that "China likely cut its exports of medical supplies prior to its January WHO (World Health Organization) notification that COVID-19 is a contagion", according to a Department of Homeland Security report that CNN quoted on May 4, 2020.

Several developed countries, such as the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Australia are working on developing a vaccine for COVID-19, but none of them has so far made any breakthrough. (ANTARA)

A total of 99,543 Indonesians have returned home from abroad as of May 19, 2020, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.

"I want to update the number of Indonesians, who have returned to the country. As of yesterday (May 19), their number had reached 99,543 or rose by 4,441 from that a week ago," the minister stated during a video press conference in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Most Indonesians returned from Malaysia and were working for cruise ships, she remarked.

Since March 18, 2020, a total of 76,770 Indonesians have returned from Malaysia, rising by 1,926 as compared to a week ago.

In the meantime, 16,974 Indonesians employed as crew members of cruise liners have returned from 23 countries. The figure also increased by 1,154 as compared to the past week.

The number of returning Indonesians apart from those employed in Malaysia and as crew members of foreign cruise liners reached 5,790, including 182, who have recently arrived in Jakarta from Pakistan on Tuesday (May 19), he remarked.

Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, several Indonesian migrant workers, especially those employed in the informal sector in Malaysia, have lost their jobs.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has instructed ministries to take precautionary measures for the return of 34 thousand Indonesian migrant workers, whose work contract will end in the months of May and June this year.

"Precautionary measures must be taken against this, and adequate preparations must be made. We should handle their arrivals through certain entry gates and monitor their movements to their hometowns," Jokowi stated during a videoconference on the acceleration of COVID-19 handling at the Merdeka Palace here on Monday. (ANTARA)