Indonesia Highlights: Stay Vigilant against the Spread of New Covid-19 Variant N439K: Senior Medic | Japanese Shoemaker Asics to Relocate from China to Indonesia | Some Citizens Have No National Ident

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – A senior doctor from the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) warned the public to stay vigilant against another Covid-19 variant.

The new Covid-19 variant N439K of SARS-CoV-2 was found in the UK and had been spread around the world.

In other news, Japanese sports shoemaker Asics will relocate its factory from China to Indonesia.

Below are the editors’ picks stories published on Kompas.com:

Stay Vigilant Against the Spread of New Covid-19 Variant N439K: Senior Medic

Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) chairman Daeng M Faqih urged the public to remain vigilant against the spread of the latest Covid-19 variant N439K found in the UK.

“Not too long ago the government has announced the spread of Covid-19 variant B.1.1.7 and another new variant is now found again in the UK namely N439K,” Daeng said in a statement on Wednesday, March 11.

Daeng said the Covid-19 variant N439K of SARS-CoV-2, believed to be 'smarter' than the previous one, has been found in 30 countries.

“The N439K variant, which has been found in more than 30 countries, is smarter than the previous variant due to its stronger ACE2 receptor in human cells,” he said.

“It is not recognized by polyclonal antibodies formed from the immunity of people who have been infected,” he added.

Therefore, he underscored the importance of wearing masks to protect people from coronavirus transmission.

Source: https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2021/03/11/15461921/idi-minta-masyarakat-waspadai-penyebaran-varian-baru-virus-corona-n439k.

Japanese Shoemaker Asics to Relocate from China to Indonesia

KOMPAS.com/Wisnubrata The collection of Onitsuka Tiger shoes produced from 1955 to 1968 are placed in Asics Museum in Kobe, Japan.

Indonesia’s Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said on Wednesday that Japanese sports shoemaker Asics will relocate its factory from China to Indonesia.

“Previously, they had several facilities in China but most of them were closed as they would move them to Indonesia. Only one was left [in China],” Agus told a press conference which was held virtually on March 10.

He said that Asics will build two factories in Cirebon, West Java, and Tegal, Central Java as they are targeting to start the production in January 2022. Then another factory will be built in Pemalang, Central Java before they will start production in March 2023.

“Asics has committed to building their factories in three locations. As of now they only have one factory in Jakarta,” said Agus.

The minister said 90 percent of their production in Indonesia has been exported to various countries, including the US and Japan. This shows that Indonesian-made products are of high quality that is accepted in the global market.

“This indicates that our industries and manpower in Indonesia have been able to produce high-quality products that are accepted by markets with high prevalence,” he said.

Source: https://go.kompas.com/read/2021/03/11/150042174/japanese-shoemaker-asics-to-relocate-from-china-to-indonesia.

Some Citizens Have No National Identity Document, Says Indonesian Minister

KOMPAS.com/USMAN HADI Social Affairs Minister Tri Rismaharini.

The Indonesian government through Social Affairs Ministry and Home Affairs Ministry are identifying vulnerable populations in an effort to provide social protection programs for them.

The vulnerable populations include the homeless and indigenous people who have yet formally registered and have no national identity document.

"The citizens who have not received their civil rights in the form of identity document include the homeless and beggars in urban areas as well as the indigenous people in Indonesia's remote regions," Tribunnews.com quoted Social Affairs Minister Tri Rismaharini as saying on Thursday, March 11.

Social Affairs Ministry is collecting data on social assistance recipients to be integrated with the Integrated Social Welfare Data (DTKS).

"Thank you for the support and good cooperation from the Directorate General of Population Administration of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Hopefully, this will also identify the vulnerable and indigenous people," Risma, as the minister is popularly known, said in a statement.

Once they are formally registered, they are entitled to access the social protection programs such as the Family Hope Program (PKH), Non-Cash Food Assistance (BPNT), Cash Social Assistance (BST), and other government programs.

Source: https://go.kompas.com/read/2021/03/11/183813474/some-citizens-have-no-national-identity-document-says-indonesian-minister.