Indonesia Highlights: Hospitalized Covid-19 Patient from India in Stable Condition in Jakarta | 200 Indonesian Migrant Workers Returning From Malaysia Test Covid-19 Positive | Indonesian Counterterror

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesia continues to cope with three different strains of the Covid-19 virus that has been traced in the country since the beginning of the year.

Meanwhile, the pandemic’s standing as a public health emergency is further highlighted, after 200 migrant workers returning from Malaysia tested positive for Covid-19.

And the Indonesian National Police’s Detachment 88 [Densus 88] counterterrorist police raided the offices of the Islamic Defenders Front or FPI in Makassar, South Sulawesi, to determine if the outlawed group played a role in the Makassar Cathedral suicide bombing last March. This and more on Indonesia Highlights:

SHUTTERSTOCK Fighting Covid-19.

Hospitalized Covid-19 Patient from India in Stable Condition in Jakarta

An Indian citizen, who has tested positive for a new variant of Covid-19 that was first detected in India, is in stable condition and receiving treatment in a Jakarta hospital, an Indonesian official said on Tuesday, May 4.

"Specimens were collected on April 22," said Siti Nadia Tarmizi, a spokesperson for the Covid-19 Vaccination Ministry of Health, during a virtual press conference.

Meanwhile, an Indonesian patient who has also contracted the new variant of Covid-19 has recovered after the specimens were collected on April 3.

Nadia said that Indonesia has recorded two new mutations of the highly infectious Covid-19 variant from India and South Africa. The Indian variant (B.1.617) was found in two patients in Jakarta, while the South Africa variant (B.1.351) was found in a patient in Bali, she said.

The patient who contracted the South Africa Covid-19 variant had died. "The case of B.1.351 variant was found in Bali. The case was discovered after a specimen was collected on January 25, 2021. The patient died on February 16, 2021," said Nadia.

The mutation of the virus is suspected to affect the neutralization of some antibodies, but it has not been detected that it increases the risk of disease severity.

Based on the latest cases, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin urged the public to further tighten the implementation of health protocols.

According to him, it is a collective obligation for all parties to prevent the transmission of Covid-19 by wearing masks, maintaining a safe distance, and washing hands.

Source:

https://go.kompas.com/read/2021/05/04/235626974/hospitalized-covid-19-patient-from-india-in-stable-condition-in-jakarta. 

Shutterstock/Petovarga Illustration of Covid-19 safety precautions

200 Indonesian Migrant Workers Returning From Malaysia Test Covid-19 Positive

200 Indonesian migrant workers returning to Indonesia from Malaysia via the Riau Islands province has tested positive for Covid-19 during a four-month period from January to April.

Officials announced the findings on Tuesday, following reports that Malaysia’s coronavirus outbreak has taken a turn for the worse.

“We found the positive cases, after we carried out PCR snd PMI swab tests on more than 14 thousand workers who arrived from Malaysia via Batam and Tanjungpinang,” said Covid-19 Task Force for the Riau Islands chief Tengku Said Arief Fadillah in a written statement.

“Most of the Covid-19 cases among the migrant workers are asymptomatic. They are currently in isolation at the Covid-19 hospital on Galang, one of the islands in the Batam island chain.”

He acknowledged the public’s concerns about the spread of Covid-19 cases, and assured that the Task Force will minimize transmission of the coronavirus by optimizing swab tests and obtaining results for PCR tests on the same day.

The Indonesian migrant workers returned from Malaysia, as the country’s Covid-19 pandemic particularly struck the young.

The Free Malaysia media website reported that 10 of the 19 coronavirus deaths last April, or 47.4 percent of all fatalities, are between the ages of 23 to 50.

The Malaysian Ministry of Health also reported that the surge in daily cases that is approaching four thousand cases have filled ICU occupancy bed rates by 70 percent, following a 62 percent surge over the past two weeks.

Malaysia has recorded 1,574 deaths from the coronavirus out of 420,632 cases. 387,542 people are known to have recovered from Covid-19, while another 30 thousand cases are still active.

Source:

https://go.kompas.com/read/2021/05/05/060402574/200-indonesian-migrant-workers-returning-from-malaysia-test-covid-19-positive?page=all#page2. 

PERSDA NETWORK/BINA HARNANS A symbol of the Indonesian National Police's Detachment 88 [Densus 88] counterterrorist unit

Indonesian Counterterrorist Police Sweep Former FPI Offices in Makassar, South Sulawesi

The Indonesian National Police’s Detachment 88 [Densus 88] counterterrorist unit has raided the former offices of the Islamic Defenders Front [FPI] in Makassar, South Sulawesi province on Tuesday.

The attack occurred less than a week after the police arrested FPI’s ex-secretary general Munarman to determine his awareness about the hardline group’s ties with ISIS as well as regional terror groups like Jamaah Ansharut Daulah [JAD].

South Sulawesi Regional Police spokesman Grand Police Commissioner E. Zulpan confirmed that the raid took place.

“The bust is carried out to determine the FPI’s involvement in the Makassar Cathedral suicide bombing,” he said of the attack, which killed the two suicide bombers after a Palm Sunday mass on March 28.

Zulpan’s observation is backed by the dozens of armed men secured the area.

“Investigators will also try to determine [the FPI’s connections] with the Villa Mutara group militants, which was accused of the Makassar Cathedral attack,” he added of the group, which was named after the housing complex where they held their activities.

He declined to disclose about the items that were seized as evidence during the raid.

Zulpan maintained that “a number of FPI members also doubled as members of the Villa Mutiara group of militants that were caught by the police in the eponymously named housing complex. The FPI also pledged allegiance to ISIS in 2015, in a ceremony attended by Munarman.”

The police arrested Munarman at his house in South Tangerang on April 27, on grounds that he incited terrorism and obstructed police investigations of the crime. The government outlawed the FPI in December 2020 for violating health protocols, destabilizing the country and other charges.

Source:

https://go.kompas.com/read/2021/05/05/075419074/indonesian-counterterrorist-police-sweep-former-fpi-offices-in-makassar-south.