VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Queen Elizabeth II will urge people to rise to the challenge posed by the coronavirus outbreak, in a rare special address to Britain and Commonwealth nations on Sunday, April 5. In extracts released Saturday of what royal officials said was a "deeply personal" speech, the 93-year-old monarch will say she has faith that people will respond, despite the difficulties. The broadcast, scheduled to air at 1900 GMT on Sunday, is only the fourth time in her 68-year reign that she has made a special televised address outside her annual Christmas Day message. It comes as daily deaths in Britain hit a record high of 708, including a five-year-old child on Saturday, taking the overall toll to 4,313 - and as the country prepared for a third week of lockdown. According to Buckingham Palace, the queen will personally thank frontline healthcare staff and other key workers for their efforts during the crisis//CNA

The Industry Ministry has proposed soft loans for small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) to help them pay laid-off workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This was stated by Director General of Small, Medium, and Multifarious Industries of the Industry Ministry Gati Wibawaningsih on Saturday as quoted by Antara. Since COVID-19 cases were firstly confirmed in the country in early March, small- and medium-scale businesses have registered a 50-70 percent decline in sales. According to Ms Wibawaningsih, the ministry had worked closely with online shops, including Tokopedia, Shopee, Blibli, and Buka Lapak, to help in marketing the products of SMEs. Wibawaningsih pointed out that SMEs in the country were also reeling from the impacts of a scarcity of raw materials, particularly imported ones. Hence, the Industry Ministry has worked on cooperation with the domestic raw material industry to produce and supply raw materials for local SMEs. The government has also issued a policy on postponing credit payment for SMEs in a bid to lessen the burden on businesses//Ant

Indonesia's capital city Jakarta extended the closing period of its tourism areas to April 19, in the race to contain the growing threat of COVID-19 whose cases in the city reached 1,071 as Saturday. Cucu Ahmad Kurnia, head of Jakarta's Tourism and Creative Economy Office, as quoted by Antara, noted in a statement here on Saturday, that the policy is effective for 17 days, in a bid to contain the transmission of coronavirus that caused COVID-19.The Jakarta administration had earlier closed the tourism centers from March 23 to April 5. Beauty salons, sports amusement centers, night clubs, discotheques, pubs, karaoke, spas, and movie theatres were among those closed//Ant

Government's spokesman for COVID-19 handling Achmad Yurianto has warned of the dangers posed by asymptomatic individuals, who can be potential carriers of the coronavirus, as positive cases rose by 106 to reach 2,092 on Saturday. Yurianto remarked during a press conference of the Task Force for Acceleration of COVID-19 Handling in Jakarta on Saturday as quoted by Antara that Indonesian should be wary of transmission by asymptomatic persons to members of society. Government know this, as OTG (asymptomatic persons) can be potential transmitters of (the virus). Yurianto pointed out that the spike in the number of transmissions indicated that OTG might be acting as potential carriers of coronavirus. Asymptomatic individuals are those infected by the virus but did not exhibit any symptoms. As of Saturday, the number of COVID-19 cases in the country had reached 2,092. The number of recovered patients has increased by 16 to reach 150 people, while the virus had claimed the lives of 191//Ant