VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

State-Owned Enterprises Minister (SOEs) Erick Thohir clarified that national strategic projects, including that to produce batteries for electric vehicles along with South Korean company LG, will continue to run. While discussing investment realization some time ago, the minister expressed keenness to follow up on President Joko Widodo's visit to South Korea. Indonesia should not lag behind neighboring nations in the production of batteries for electric vehicles. The minister has continued to conduct tight mapping of national strategic projects. Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Bahlil Lahadalia had earlier undertaken a brief working visit to Seoul, South Korea, and stressed that it would facilitate investment from the country//Ant

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has instructed that social safety net funds, amounting to Rp110 trillion, be immediately distributed to help fulfill the basic requirements of those at the grassroots level during the COVID-19 pandemic. The president stated while chairing a limited cabinet meeting on the Effectiveness of Social Safety Net Distribution Program held through videoconference from the Bogor Palace, West Java, on Tuesday that Rp110 trillion of funding had been allotted for social safety nets for those from the grassroots level to cater to their basic requirements and shop to maintain the purchasing power. Furthermore, the president has instructed the social affairs minister to distribute 200 thousand basic food packages in the Jakarta area and also pre-work cards from April 9, for which the budget was raised, from Rp10 trillion to Rp20 trillion, with beneficiaries reaching 5.6 million, especially those affected by layoffs, informal workers, and MSME actors impacted by COVID-19. The government has also announced free electricity for 24 million 450 KVa customers and a 50-percent discount for seven million 900 KVa customers in April, May, and June//ANT

One of the nation’s top public health officials suggested Monday that because Americans are taking social distancing recommendations “to heart,” the death toll from the novel coronavirus will be “much, much, much lower” than models have projected.

“If we just social distance, we will see this virus and this outbreak basically decline, decline, decline. And I think that's what you're seeing,” said Robert Redfield, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control.

Redfield’s remarks on Monday to AM 1030 KVOI Radio in Tucson, Arizona, struck a rosier tone than some other recent predictions. On Monday morning, for example, the U.S. Surgeon General equated the coming week’s fallout to the attacks on Pearl Harbor. But officials on the White House task force have said they believe that even with a tough week ahead, the numbers in some places suggest that social distancing is working and could provide a reprieve eventually. National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Disease Director Anthony Fauci said he was very interested in data in New York that the number of admissions to intensive care and intubations in the last three days had started to level off//ABCNEWS

A legislator opined that the government's large-scale social restriction and distancing policies to stem the spread of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) had yet to be implemented optimally in several parts of Indonesia, including Jakarta. As quoted by Antara News Agency, Willy Aditya, a member of parliament from the National Democratic Party Faction, stated  on Monday  in Jakarta that the People’s Legislative Assembly (DPR) observes that the means of public transportation remain packed with passengers. The physical distancing measure cannot be applied as expected. In conversation with journalists after attending a meeting at the Defense Ministry, he highlighted the need for the Indonesian military (TNI) personnel to become fully involved in the government's efforts to contain the spread of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19)//Ant