Friday, July 9, 2021

1) W Papuan hospital buckles amid COVID surge, stops admitting patients


2) TNI task force hands out masks to Indonesia-PNG border residents  

3) Jakarta: Papua governor completes self-isolation, prepares to fly home

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1) W Papuan hospital buckles amid COVID surge, stops admitting patients 
 3 hours ago


Manokwari, W Papua (ANTARA) - Overwhelmed by a surge in coronavirus infections, the COVID-19 referral hospital in West Papua's Manokwari has stopped receiving patients and has appealed to people to follow health protocols to help curb virus transmission.

The West Papua Public Hospital in Manokwari has temporarily stopped receiving COVID-19 patients since Friday morning owing to the overwhelming number of patients, the hospital's director, Arnold Tiniap, said.

The referral hospital has run out of beds with the number of patients currently undergoing treatment at the facility exceeding the maximum capacity of 110 beds for hospitalized COVID-19 patients, he added.

"We are now treating 111 patients so we are forced to temporarily close the door on new incoming patients," he said.

Besides the overwhelming number of hospitalized patients, the hospital's capacity to serve patients has been affected on account of 20 medical workers contracting COVID-19 and proceeding for self-isolation, he added.

The hospital has also begun running out of medical oxygen for patients with moderate and severe COVID-19, he said.

Given the alarming situation, locals must protect themselves by complying with all recommended precautionary measures of COVID-19 prevention and mitigation, Tiniap urged.

"If the required implementation of health protocols is ignored, the efforts to flatten West Papua's coronavirus curve that the task force and other authorities have been making will be useless," he added.

West Papua recorded 2,912 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Thursday, an increase of 317 cases compared to the previous day.

Manokwari district contributed 1,404 of the province's 2,912 COVID-19 cases, Tiniap said.

The COVID-19 pandemic initially hit the Chinese city of Wuhan in 2019 and subsequently spread across the globe, including to nations in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Indonesian government announced the nation's first confirmed cases on March 2, 2020.

Since then, the central and regional governments have been endeavoring to slow infections by implementing health protocols.

Emergency public activity restrictions have also been imposed on the islands of Java and Bali from July 3 - July 20, 2021 to address an alarming resurgence in COVID-19 cases.

As part of efforts to win the fight against COVID-19, the Indonesian government has been conducting a nationwide vaccination program to contain infections since January 13, 2021.

As of July 9, 2021, a total of 35,775,567 Indonesians have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, an increase of 914,881 compared to the previous day, according to the Health Ministry.

The number of Indonesians who have received the second vaccine dose reached 14,868,577 on Friday, up 246,075 from the previous day, it added. (INE)

Related news: Indonesian Navy vaccinates 1,000 residents in West Papua's Sorong
Related news: Monitoring of incoming travelers tightened: West Papua police


EDITED BY INE

Reporter: HA Kapisa, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Suharto


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2) TNI task force hands out masks to Indonesia-PNG border residents  
15 hours ago

Merauke (ANTARA) - Indonesian Military (TNI) Task Force of Border Security of Indonesia (RI) and Papua New Guinea (PNG) Infantry Battalion 611 Awang Long distributed masks to border residents in Yakyu, Sota, Merauke, Papua, to stem COVID-19 transmission.

Commander of the RI-PNG Border Security Task Force Infantry Battalion 611 Awang Long, Lt. Col. Inf. Albert Frantesca, stated that the masks were distributed to the assisted communities in order to contain the spread of COVID-19 since some residents were still found to have been disregarding the government’s advice.

“Several of the Task Force’s assisted communities continue to ignore the government’s advice. Hence, as a precautionary measure to curb transmission of the coronavirus disease, the Border Security Task Force distributes free masks to them,” Frantesca remarked.

Yakyu’s Post Commander of Task Force Infantry Battalion 611/Awang Long, Second Lt Antonius Mapeda, led the endeavor to distribute masks to the communities.

This step was aimed at supporting the government’s program to take precautionary measures and edifying the residents of the criticality of maintaining health by following health protocols in each activity in a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19, according to Frantesca.


Related news: Top TNI officer visits Papua to review construction of PON facilities


Related news: Soldiers in Papua conduct COVID-19 awareness campaign for villagers
  

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Reporter: Muhsidin/ Juwita Trisna R
Editor: Fardah Assegaf

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3) Jakarta: Papua governor completes self-isolation, prepares to fly home


Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA) - Papua Governor Lukas Enembe prepared to fly back to Jayapura on Thursday evening after completing self-isolation in Jakarta following a visit to Singapore for medical treatment.

 

"Governor Lukas Enembe appeals to the people of Papua to pray for his good health and safe arrival in Jayapura," the provincial government's spokesperson, Muhammad Rifai Darus, said here on Thursday.

 

Enembe, who had been admitted at Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital since May 25, 2021, arrived back in Jakarta on July 1, 2021, he informed.

 

The governor started self-isolation the day he arrived, in compliance with the government's health protocols, he added.

 

His flight for Jayapura was scheduled on Thursday evening, he continued.

 

Enembe has urged Papuans to refrain from planning a welcome for him since crowd-pulling activities are prohibited amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Darus said.

 

Instead, the governor has asked the people to continue to comply with the government's COVID-19 prevention measures to protect themselves and their families from infection, he added.

 

The governor has also expressed his readiness to return to Papua and resume his services following a full recovery, Darus said.

 

Enembe was in the media spotlight after Papua New Guinea authorities deported him in early April this year.

 

As reported by ANTARA earlier, the Papua governor admitted to entering PNG by motorcycle taxi (ojek) for medical treatment.

 

"I know what I have done is wrong since I crossed and entered the PNG territory through a small path by a motorcycle taxi," Enembe said after taking a COVID-19 antigen test.


Related news: Govt pushes ahead with Papua games preparations despite COVID surge

Related news: Indonesian Navy vaccinates 1,000 residents in West Papua's Sorong

 

He said he visited Vanimo on March 31, 2021 for medical treatment.

 

He was deported soon after in the company of Indonesia's consul in Vanimo Allen Simarmata.

 

PNG Consul General Geoffrey L. Wiri and chief of border affairs and foreign cooperation of the Papua provincial administration, Suzana Wanggai, received him in the neutral zone, from where he headed back to Jayapura.

 

In June this year, Enembe again caught the attention of local media outlets after he protested the Home Ministry's decision to appoint Papua provincial government secretary, Dance Yulian Flassy, as acting governor of the province. (INE)


Related news: BNI promotes MSME products in Tokyo

Related news: Trade ministry seizes opportunity during second digital economy wave

 

EDITED BY INE


Reporter: Hendrina DK, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf

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