Indonesia Highlights: New Zealand Orders 262 Freight Trains from Indonesia | Indonesian Presidential Chief of Staff: Ivermectin a Covid-19 Cure | Indonesian Medical Association Urges Govt to Close Bor

KOMPAS.com - State-owned train manufacturing company PT Industri Kereta Api Indonesia (Inka) has received an order for 262 freight trains or container flat wagons from KiwiRail Holdings Limited, an operator of New Zealand's rail network.

Indonesian officials highlighted the use of the anti-parasite drug Ivermectin as a potential treatment for the coronavirus.

Below are excerpts from the news in Indonesia, curated by Kompas.com editors:

New Zealand Orders 262 Freight Trains from Indonesia

State-owned train manufacturing company PT Industri Kereta Api Indonesia (Inka) said it has received an order for 262 freight trains or container flat wagons from KiwiRail Holdings Limited, an operator of New Zealand's rail network.

PT Inka’s general manager of marketing Wai Wahdan hoped that the project could enhance the role of the company in the rail industry worldwide. Previously, Inka has also supplied for projects in Australia.

“This project is expected to be a big step for PT Inka to have a significant stake in the Oceania railway market after supplying 224 blizzard center sills for BradkenRail of Australia previously,” said Wai in a statement, Monday, June 28.

As for the project with New Zealand, Wai added, it is estimated that Inka will complete it within 18-20 months.

Previously, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has instructed Inka to continue exporting Indonesian-made trains to other countries. Indonesia has exported train cars to Bangladesh and the Philippines.

Jokowi said the experience in the construction of such projects is very much needed. He expressed hope that Indonesia could also export its light rail transit (LRT) to other countries.
“This will later become the foundation to build the LRT, build train cars for other countries,” he said.

Source: https://money.kompas.com/read/2021/06/28/104500126/inka-raih-pesanan-262-gerbong-barang-dari-selandia-baru-.

Indonesian Presidential Chief of Staff: Ivermectin A Covid-19 Cure

Shutterstock Doses of Ivermectin

Indonesia might get a break in its uphill struggle against Covid-19 after Indonesian officials highlighted the use of the anti-parasite drug Ivermectin as a potential treatment for the coronavirus.

Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko is among the leading proponents of the medication, based on its successful use in 33 countries. “According to the Front Line Covid-19 Critical Care [FLCCC] Alliance [NGO], countries like Brazil, Japan, and India have effectively used Ivermectin to overcome their Covid-19 crisis,” said the former Indonesian Armed Forces commander.

“The Covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia is currently at a critical phase, as the number of cases from the new Delta strain of the coronavirus increased. This is reflected by rising bed occupancy rates [BOR] in Covid-19 emergency hospitals around the country.”

He added that the dire situation from the pandemic entailed finding out-of-the-box solutions, among them the use of Ivermectin to treat Covid-19.

An American Journal of Therapeutics study involving 3,406 volunteers in 15 clinical groups has found that Ivermectin has a 95 percent effectiveness rate in treating Covid-19. The British Ivermectin Recommendation Development (BIRD) Group research of 24 clinical tests in 15 countries, among them Peru, Mexico, to Slovakia is just as promising, as it was shown to reduce the number of deaths among Covid-19 cases.

Data from the Indonesian Farmers Association or HKTI, which is chaired by Moeldoko, also showed that Ivermectin can reduce Covid-19 case numbers in Jakarta, Tangerang, Depok, and other cities in Indonesia by nearly 100 percent.

Source: https://go.kompas.com/read/2021/06/29/024510474/indonesian-presidential-chief-of-staff-ivermectin-a-covid-19-cure.

Indonesian Medical Association Urges Govt to Close Borders Temporarily Over New Covid Variants

SHUTTERSTOCK Illustration of the Delta variant of Covid-19

Deputy Chairperson of the Indonesian Medical Association Slamet Budiarto urged the government to tighten access for foreigners who want to enter Indonesia.

He stressed the need to close borders temporarily or at least extend the quarantine period for all arrivals in the country.

"Borders must be closed [temporarily] or at least if we don't [close the borders] the quarantine period should be extended from three or five days to 10 days," said Slamet on Sunday, June 27.

Slamet also called for the government to reimpose the partial lockdown or large-scale social restrictions (PSBB). According to him, the implementation of micro-scale community activity restrictions (PPKM) is no longer effective to curb the Covid-19 transmission.

Slamet went on to say that to prevent an economic collapse following the reimposing of partial lockdown, workers could still go to the offices but only 25 percent of the total number of employees for a maximum of four hours a day.

A similar rule can also be applied to the transportation sector by allowing only a 25 percent capacity limit for four hours. Besides, the regulations should no longer be based on the category of low-, medium-, and high-risk zone of infections because people continue to move.

The most important thing to do now is to limit people's movement on a large scale. "So, the point is to reduce the movement of the people first. Even if people still use transportation, the number needs to be limited. For example, for health workers, they need transportation and [those who need to deliver] food supplies," said Slamet.

The number of new Covid-19 cases continues to climb. The National Covid-19 Task Force recorded more than 21,000 confirmed cases from June 26-27, the highest daily number of infections since Indonesia announced its first two cases in March 2020.

Currently, the total number of people who contract coronavirus reaches 2,115,304 people. Meanwhile, a spokesman for the National Covid-19 Task Force Wiku Adisasmito said that the development of the Delta Covid-19 variant, which was first detected in India, has been closely monitored by the government.

The Ministry of Health said the Delta variant was mostly found in Jakarta, Kudus regency, and Bangkalan regency, where the transmission of the virus occurs more quickly.

Source: https://go.kompas.com/read/2021/06/28/185229474/indonesian-medical-association-urges-govt-to-close-borders-temporarily-over-new.