BANGKOK: Myanmar has endured six months of turmoil since the military deposed Aung San Suu Kyi's government and ended the country's decade-old experiment with democracy.
The junta has consolidated its position after a lethal crackdown on street protests, which have continued in a limited form despite the violence.
AFP takes a look at the current state of play inside Myanmar:
- What's happened since the coup?
The military has killed almost 1,000 people in a running crackdown on dissent, a local monitoring group says, with thousands more arrested.
Tens of thousands of civil servants and other workers have either been sacked for joining protests or are still on strike in support of a nationwide civil disobedience campaign.
A coronavirus outbreak has overwhelmed the healthcare system, with many hospitals empty due to a work boycott by pro-democracy medical staff.
"The country has fallen into chaos and is close to complete collapse," Manny Maung of Human Rights Watch told AFP.
- Are people still protesting?
Yes, but in nothing like the numbers seen in February and March, when hundreds of thousands took to the streets around the country.
Police informers are always on the lookout, and protesters have been snatched by plainclothes officers AFP/STR
Young demonstrators in the commercial capital Yangon hold regular morning flash mobs, jogging through the streets to chant slogans and sometimes set off flares.
But even these are getting more and more dangerous - police informers are always on the lookout, and protesters have been snatched by plainclothes officers.
- Is anyone fighting back?
Several of Myanmar's powerful ethnic rebel groups opposed the coup and have since clashed with the military.
Fighters from the Karen National Union - which has offered shelter to fleeing dissidents - attacked and razed a military base in May.
People are still protesting against Myanmar's junta, but in nothing like the numbers seen in the early weeks after the coup AFP/STR
Another group near the Chinese border has also fought sporadic battles against the armed forces.
The junta hit back at both with air strikes.
Civilian guerilla groups have also taken on the military in urban neighbourhoods, often with rudimentary or homemade weapons and almost no training.
- What has the international community done?
The United States, European Union and United Kingdom have ramped up sanctions on the junta and business linked to the military.
The generals are used to international isolation after weathering sanctions during a previous military regime AFP/STR
But the generals are used to international isolation after weathering sanctions during a previous military regime.
UN experts have accused the junta of committing crimes against humanity but has so far only imposed a non-binding resolution to "prevent the flow of arms" into Myanmar.
- What has happened to Aung San Suu Kyi?
Suu Kyi, 76, has barely been seen since the generals ousted her government and placed her under house arrest in the capital Naypyidaw.
They later brought an eclectic mix of charges against her, including illegally importing walkie-talkies and flouting coronavirus restrictions.
She could face over a decade in jail if convicted on all counts.
- What does the future hold?
Backed by allies Russia and China, and outgunning pro-democracy protesters and rebel groups, the junta looks to have consolidated its position despite continuing resistance to military rule.
It has claimed plans to stage new elections at an unspecified point in the future.
BANGKOK: Myanmar's military ruler Min Aung Hlaing on Sunday (Aug 1) again promised new multi-party elections and said his government is ready to work with any special envoy named by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
He also said a state of emergency would lifted by August 2023, extending the military's initial timeline given when it deposed Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb 1.
He spoke in a televised address six months after the army seized power from a civilian government after disputed elections won by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's ruling party, which he described as "terrorists".
"We will accomplish the provisions of the state of emergency by August 2023," he said.
"I pledge to hold multiparty elections without fail."
The general's announcement would place Myanmar in the military's grip for nearly two-and-a-half-years - instead of the initial one-year timeline the junta announced days after the coup.
"Myanmar is ready to work on ASEAN cooperation within the ASEAN framework including the dialogue with the ASEAN Special Envoy in Myanmar," Min Aung Hlaing added.
The army seized power from the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi after her ruling party won elections that the military argued were tainted by fraud. The country's electoral commission dismissed this allegation.
Across Myanmar small groups of demonstrators marched on Sunday.
Protesters in the northern town of Kale held banners reading "strength for the revolution" while demonstrators let off flares at a march in the commercial capital Yangon.
Tens of thousands of civil servants and other workers have either been sacked for joining rallies or are still on strike in support of a nationwide civil disobedience campaign.
ASEAN MEETING
ASEAN foreign ministers are to meet on Monday, when diplomats say they aim to finalise a special envoy tasked with ending violence and promoting dialogue between the junta and its opponents.
The United Nations, China and the United States, among others, have identified the Southeast Asian bloc, whose 10 members include Myanmar, as best placed to lead diplomatic efforts to restore stability in Myanmar.
The Southeast Asian nation has been racked by a deadly crackdown on protests, economic collapse and a refugee exodus since the coup. A surge in coronavirus infections has overwhelmed Myanmar's health system, worsening the humanitarian crisis in the past month.
The search for a special envoy began in April, when ASEAN leaders produced a "five-point consensus" to tackle the turmoil in Myanmar.
The UN and US have both urged ASEAN to expedite appointment of the special envoy in recent weeks.
The second minister for foreign affairs of Brunei, Erywan Yusof, said on Friday night he hoped a final decision would be made on Monday. Brunei is chair of ASEAN this year.
"Without the envoy leading the way, it is very difficult" to address the situation in Myanmar, he said.
ASEAN has been deeply divided on the envoy, and discussed appointing more than one to break the deadlock.
Four regional diplomatic sources said Erywan was favoured to become envoy and be assisted by "advisers". But a meeting of senior ASEAN officials on Thursday failed to reach agreement, they said.
As well as the nine other ASEAN members, Myanmar's military regime will have to approve the appointment, they said.
A spokesman for Myanmar's National Unity Government which opposes the military junta, Sasa, said the envoy must "put the people of Myanmar front and centre".
"Anything that can help alleviate the people's suffering is welcome," he said.
Erywan publicly confirmed he was one of four candidates. Diplomats said the others were Thailand's deputy foreign minister Weerasak Footrakul, former Indonesian foreign minister Hassan Wirajuda and veteran Malaysian diplomat Razali Ismail.
ASEAN will also announce a proposal to provide aid to Myanmar, including support to combat the pandemic, diplomats said.
Bangkok: As COVID-19 cases surge in Thailand, some Buddhist monks are donning personal protective equipment over their distinctive robes, delivering oxygen cylinders, taking nasal samples to help with testing, and even helping carry the dead to the crematoriums.
Thailand is struggling to contain its latest outbreak fuelled by the highly contagious Delta variant, leaving healthcare services stretched and further damaging a battered economy.
"There are a lot of Thais who are still ignored by the public health system," Mahapromphong, 33, the deputy abbot of Suthi Wararam Temple in the Thai capital, told AFP.
Since Jul 21 he has been working in Bangkok's poorer neighbourhoods, distributing oxygen tanks, food and medical supplies to the needy as well as taking samples for testing.
Monks are highly respected in the Buddhist kingdom, and they were inundated with donations once word got out, he adds.
He learnt how to do nasal swabs from the doctors and nurses working in his temple, which doubles as an isolation centre for those infected with the virus.
One man winced as Mahapromphong removed the swab and deposited the sample in a plastic pot.
"It's better to be safe than sorry," the man said, his eyes watering.
"Monks are able to live because we rely on people's donation," Mahapromphong told AFP.
"So it's time for us to give back to the people. At the very least, we could encourage them to keep fighting."
The family of Malee Manjeen, who died due to COVID-19, watch from a distance as monks in personal protective equipment carry her coffin to the crematorium. AFP/Lillian SUWANRUMPHA
Supornchaithammo, a monk at Chin Wararam Worawiharn Temple, helps with the grimmer task of taking the bodies to the crematorium.
"I'm willing to take the risk here," he said. "If I contract the virus then I'm ready to accept it without any regret."
"EVERYBODY NEEDS A HELPING HAND"
Thailand has reported more than 597,000 coronavirus cases and over 4,800 deaths.
The bulk of the new infections were detected since April, when the latest wave was sparked by a cluster at an upscale Bangkok nightlife district frequented by the politically connected.
Premier Prayut Chan-o-cha's administration has been roundly criticised for its handling of the pandemic, from accusations of vaccine mismanagement to the lack of government compensation for affected sectors.
Monk Supornchaithammo says he never expected this to be his routine, but is happy to help.
"I didn't have it in my head that I would be doing something like this when I was ordained," he told AFP.
BOGOR, Indonesia: The sun was blazing hot when four volunteers from the local COVID-19 task force, draped in full personal protective gear, descended on a densely populated neighbourhood in Bogor, one of Jakarta’s satellite cities.
Soaking in sweat with their goggles and face shields fogging, they trod along a dusty alleyway filled with tightly packed houses as curious onlookers observed their every step.
Just before the alleyway split into a T-junction, a crowd of around two dozen people had gathered outside a small, neon blue home. No one dared to step inside for the lady of the house, 47-year-old Rita Nurbaeti, had died hours before, following a week of battling COVID-19.
Not even her husband and their three children – who all tested negative for the coronavirus – were brave enough to be with her. She was still in her night gown as she breathed her last.
“We tried to take her to the hospital because she was hyperventilating but all the hospital beds were full,” Mr Mujiburrahman Rizal told CNA of his late wife. “We took care of her the best we could. We gave her medications from the hospital as well as some herbal medicines. But God had other plans for her.”
Volunteers from the Bogor COVID-19 task force preparing to wash the body of a woman who died while isolating at home in Bogor, Indonesia. (Photo: Nivell Rayda)
Indonesia has seen a surge in COVID-19 cases, mostly due to the spread of the more transmissible Delta variant. This month alone, more than a million people have tested positive for the coronavirus. Experts have warned that there could be many times more cases which had gone undetected.
The rapid rise of cases has overwhelmed the nation’s healthcare system, leaving many patients, even those with severe symptoms, unable to receive proper care in the hospitals. In the last 30 days, at least 28,000 COVID-19 related deaths had been recorded, some of whom died while isolating at home.
Before the pandemic, it was up to the family and the local community to make their own funeral arrangements for the dead.
According to Islam, observed by about 90 per cent of Indonesians, the funeral preparations involve washing and wrapping of the dead with white cloth and performing prayers for the deceased, before the bodies are laid in their final resting place.
At the beginning of the pandemic, health workers and paramedics assisted in the burial preparations of those believed to have died of COVID-19. However, with many of these health workers too preoccupied in treating the growing number of COVID-19 patients, the responsibility to care for the dead, at least in Bogor, now falls into the hands of a group of volunteers.
When Indonesia began imposing the Emergency Community Restrictions for Java and Bali in early July, senior Bogor officials set up a task force to look into the issues and challenges where they would most likely need extra help. These included the problem of providing the necessary care for COVID-19 patients who died while isolating at home.
A volunteer from the Bogor City Deceased Evacuation and Mitigation Team getting ready to attend to a COVID-19 patient who died while isolating at home. (Photo: Nivell Rayda)
"The government decided that they need people to remove bodies of those who died while in self isolation," said Mr Rino Indira Gusniawan, the director of a local water distribution company who was tasked with assembling a team of volunteers for the job.
“There are people who are so afraid of COVID-19 bodies, they don't want to touch the bodies at all. Then there are those who are completely negligent and take COVID-19 lightly. These are the two issues that we are trying to address,” he told CNA.
Mr Gusniawan quickly got to work to recruit volunteers from various organisations and groups operating in the city. Before long, the Bogor City Deceased Evacuation and Mitigation Team was formed.
NON-STOP WORK
It was barely 10am on Friday (Jul 23) and Mdm Nurbaeti was already the third COVID-19 patient in Bogor to die on that day while isolating at home. She was the 95th death handled by the team since it was set up.
“On average, we can handle around five bodies in a day. There are even days when we have to handle nine to 11 bodies in a day,” senior volunteer Wahyu Trisnajaya told CNA.
“We work 24 hours a day. A call can come at 3am in the morning. We are dealing with an infected body. There is a chance that the dead might infect other people, so we have to move quickly.”
Wahyu Trisnajaya, a volunteer with Bogor City Deceased Evacuation and Mitigation Team. (Photo: Nivell Rayda)
And there is no sign that things are getting better. The number of daily infections across Indonesia currently average between 28,000 and 45,000, while the number of deaths continue to climb and break the previous record five times over the last seven days.
On Tuesday, the national death toll surpassed 2,000 for the first time since the pandemic began, with 30 deaths in Bogor, a record for the city.
Bogor City Health Agency said 21 of them died in hospitals across the city and nine while self-isolating at home.
The nature of the work and the conditions they have to put up with can be overwhelming for the Bogor City Deceased Evacuation and Mitigation Team, which is the only such volunteer group in Bogor. The volunteers do not get paid for their work.
“I haven’t gone home since Jul 4. We are so busy I barely sleep for more than two hours,” Mr Trisnajaya said at the volunteer group’s makeshift headquarters, a small function hall in the city centre.
Although the team managed to recruit 56 volunteers, only around 30 are active. “The rest have other things to do and can only help in their spare time,” said the 55-year-old retiree.
Of the 30, only 18 volunteers are directly involved in handling the bodies. The other 12 are in charge of taking calls from those in need of their help, doing administrative work or providing logistical support.
Nur Hasanah (left) and Aan Andriyani, volunteers from the Bogor City Deceased Evacuation and Mitigation Team, taking a rest. (Photo: Nivell Rayda)
“There are not that many people who are willing to do this. Not many are willing to go near a dead COVID-19 patient,” said Mr Trisnajaya.
Of the total, eight are female. The lack of female team members presents its own challenges.
According to Islamic practice, only next of kin and persons of the same gender as the deceased are allowed to assist in the burial rites. This means the female volunteers in the group have to make themselves available round the clock, in case the deceased is a female.
“I stay at the headquarters because you never know when our help is needed,” said volunteer Nur Hasanah, 37.
Mdm Hasanah is a mother of three and a seasoned rescue worker. Having volunteered in countless disaster areas before, being around dead bodies is nothing new to her.
But dealing with a pandemic like COVID-19 is a totally different experience.
“In the beginning I was fearful. This is different. This is COVID-19. I am not dealing with an ordinary body. They had virus in them,” the housewife said.
Nur Hasanah is a volunteer for the Bogor City Deceased Evacuation and Mitigation Team. (Photo: Nivell Rayda)
“I do feel a bit anxious. I worry that I might get infected. I have a family waiting for me at home. But as long as we take all the necessary precautions and protect ourselves we should be fine. And thankfully, so far, none of us had ever got infected.”
DIFFICULT SITUATIONS ABOUND
All members of the team are trained to perform burial rites in different religions. It can be as straightforward as dressing the deceased in their best clothes for Christians or non-Muslims, to something that requires specific procedures such as those prescribed in the Islamic practice.
Whatever the case maybe, the volunteers involved understand that their responsibility requires a certain degree of people skills such as in negotiation and persuasion especially with family members, relatives or neighbours.
Mdm Hasanah recalled a time when she had to get involved in a long argument with family members, who insisted that the deceased must be buried at the family’s private cemetery instead of a burial ground dedicated for COVID-19 patients.
Volunteers from Bogor City Deceased Evacuation and Mitigation Team inputting data into their computer. (Photo: Nivell Rayda)
The team must also delicately handle those who wish to help with the burial ceremony but insist on not wearing the personal protective gear.
“This is the reason why I stay at the headquarters. Most of the female volunteers are college students. They know how to perform the burial rites but they lack the experience to handle these types of situations,” she said.
Senior volunteer Mr Trisnajaya said the team had encountered every imaginable situation.
“We had to deal with all sorts of people. There are those who are so paranoid they wouldn’t help carry the coffin even though they have been wrapped and sterilised,” he recalled.
Family members and neighbours performing a prayer before the coffin of a woman who died while isolating at home in Bogor, Indonesia. (Photo: Nivell Rayda)
There are also COVID-19 deniers who refused to believe that their neighbours or loved ones had died of the virus. They would not let the deceased be buried using the COVID-19 protocol and insisted that they should be left alone to arrange the funeral themselves.
“We have to know when to be firm and when to step back. The last thing we want is to get into a heated argument which could lead to physical violence,” Mr Trisnajaya said.
The team had encountered such incidents twice so far.
“We got the family to sign a written statement explaining that we had tried to do our job but the family refused. We then notified the authorities what had happened. Thankfully, they didn't turn into COVID-19 clusters,” he said.
For volunteer Aan Andriyani, she sometimes feels angry at the complacent attitude displayed by some people towards COVID-19.
“It makes you feel unappreciated. We work long hours in protective gear, risking our health and yet some people don’t believe in COVID-19, some don’t think it is that dangerous and ignore health protocols,” the 44-year-old housewife told CNA.
“All I can do is focus on my job. It is a moral and religious duty to perform burial rites for the dead. Not many people are willing to do this to a COVID-19 patient. Not many people know how to do it safely. This is a calling for me.”
GOVERNMENT PROMISES MORE HOSPITAL BEDS
By the time the body of Mdm Nurbaeti was ready to be laid to rest, 90 minutes had passed since the team first arrived in the neighbourhood.
After the ritual bathing of the body and the water used safely disposed of, her body was then wrapped in the white burial shroud before it was again wrapped in a clear plastic sheet.
As required by the COVID-19 health protocol, all dead patients must be placed in orange body bags before their coffins are closed and sealed.
The ambulance that carried Mdm Nurbaeti's coffin then carefully navigated its way down the tight alleyway, ready to bring it to the cemetery.
At least a dozen plots of grave had been freshly dug by an excavator by the time the ambulance arrived at the Kayumanis Public Cemetery, some 15 minutes away from Mdm Nurbaeti’s house. Cries from grieving family members and relatives accompanied the solemn occasion as her body was gently lowered into the grave.
A woman mourns the death of her mother who died after battling with COVID-19 while isolating at home in Bogor, Indonesia. (Photo: Nivell Rayda)
Just as Mdm Nurbaeti’s funeral was about to be over, an ambulance arrived, bringing yet another body of COVID-19 patient.
“This whole section of the cemetery was opened early this month. This section is specifically for COVID-19 patients,” one of the cemetery’s gravediggers, Mr Ahmad Ridwan, told CNA.
In a matter of weeks, at least 100 bodies had been buried at the cemetery and there was only room left for dozens more, he added.
Since Indonesia imposed the emergency community restrictions on Jul 3, the city of Bogor reported deaths of more than 400 COVID-19 patients, one-fourth of them while isolating at home.
Bogor mayor Bima Arya told reporters on Monday that he expected the daily death toll to decrease in the coming days, particularly after new hospital beds were added and more people were vaccinated.
“Eighty-five per cent of those who died while in self isolation had not been vaccinated. Most are over 50 years old and generally had underlying medical conditions,” said the mayor.
Mr Arya said several facilities in the city have been converted into COVID-19 isolation centres where patients can be treated as they wait for hospital beds to become available.
Mr Gusniawan, the volunteer coordinator, said he looks forward to a time when teams like his are no longer needed.
“Hopefully in one or two months, we will see cases declining and things returning to the way they were ... when we have zero patients (dying at home) in Bogor,” he said.
“But as long as we are still needed, we’ll be here.”
ADELAIDE: Myanmar is facing a catastrophic health crisis that could have ramifications not just for the country’s long-suffering people, but across the region as well.
The country is experiencing a major spike in COVID-19 cases — what one Doctors Without Borders official referred to as “uncontrolled community spread” — fuelled by the military junta’s gross mismanagement of the crisis and a collapsing health sector.
The military regime’s official statistics are running at around 6,000 cases and 300 deaths per day, but no one believes these are accurate. This is, after all, the junta that staged a military coup in February and then tried to argue it was constitutionally valid.
With only 2.8 per cent of Myanmar’s 54 million people fully vaccinated, there are now concerns the country could become a “COVID-19 super-spreader state”. And this could lead to the emergence of new variants, says the UN’s special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar who said:
“This is very, very dangerous for all kinds of reasons … This is a region that is susceptible to even greater suffering as a result of Myanmar becoming a super-spreader state.”
The UN says a “perfect storm” of factors is fuelling the deepening health crisis. Medical staff have been on strike as part of the civil disobedience movement against the coup.
Oxygen and other medical equipment are increasingly expensive and in short supply. Even getting an oxygen concentrator into Myanmar is not straightforward, though Singapore said this week it will rush 200 machines into the country.
Most troublingly, at least 157 medics, including the former head of Myanmar’s COVID-19 vaccination programme, have been arrested and charged with high treason. In Yangon, military personnel have pretended to be COVID-19 patients in need of emergency treatment, then arrested the doctors who came to help.
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients receive treatment at the hospital in Cikha, Myanmar, May 28, 2021. (Photo: REUTERS)
Reliable figures on the infection rate are impossible to obtain, but civil society groups that assist with cremations and funeral services in Yangon say they are seeing up to 1,000 uncounted COVID-19 deaths a day in that city alone. The national total may be several thousand per day.
One reason it’s impossible to get an accurate count of cases is the extremely low rate of testing. There are only around 15,000 COVID-19 tests being conducted per day in a country of 54 million people. The tests are, however, returning a positive rate of around 37 per cent, or 370 positives for every 1,000 tests.
It’s also believed nearly 50 prisoners at the crowded, notorious Insein Prison are now infected.
These prisoners include top leaders from Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, doctors connected with the civil disobedience movement, and foreigners like Australian academic Sean Turnell, an adviser to Suu Kyi who was arrested by the junta after the coup.
Another adviser and lawyer to Suu Kyi, Nyan Win, died last week after being infected with COVID-19 at Insein.
THE POOR ARE SUFFERING
Such a catastrophic health situation is exacerbating Myanmar’s inequalities. Poorer people are less able to socially distance and less likely to get tested and receive meaningful treatment. They suffer invisibly, often in silence.
In a report published this week, the World Bank estimated Myanmar’s economy would contract by 18 per cent this year due to the effects of the pandemic and the coup. The share of people living in poverty is also likely to more than double by the beginning of 2022, compared to 2019.
The ethnic minority regions of the country may well be disproportionately suffering, too. Since the coup, conflicts have intensified across the country between the military and the ethnic armed organisations and pro-democracy advocates that have joined them, causing immense social dislocation.
The UN refugee agency estimates 200,000 people were internally displaced from February to June, bringing the total of displaced people in the country to 680,000. These marginalised groups are even less likely to have access to medical treatment.
These figures are also not taking into account the refugees outside the country, such as the million Rohingya languishing in the cramped refugee camps in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has said it will begin vaccinating the Rohingya next month.
(Why not allow dining in for those vaccinated when MICE and other big events can continue? Public health experts discuss whether new rules in Singapore mean prior plans to live normally with COVID-19 will shift on this week’s Heart of the Matter podcast.)
INTERNATIONAL AID DESPERATELY NEEDED
When Cyclone Nargis killed 140,000 people in Myanmar in 2008, the country’s previous military regime received wide-ranging offers of assistance from ASEAN, the regional bloc, and the wider international community.
But since the coup, Western aid to Myanmar has been redirected through non-government groups, causing hold-ups. The UN says the junta has also yet to account for US$350 million in COVID-19 aid the International Monetary Fund sent to Myanmar just days before the coup in February.
The country hasn’t received vaccine doses since May, though China pledged to send 6 million doses by August, with the first batch arriving last week. China may end up being the most proactive donor, since it is worried about an outbreak along its shared border with Myanmar.
Optimists say this may be a time for reconciliation and for everyone in Myanmar to unite against the common enemy of COVID-19. Yet it is hard to imagine that happening right now, when the military’s own mishandling of the pandemic has generated so much outrage from the population.
Protesters hold posters during a protest against the military coup in Myanmar, outside the headquarters of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), in Jakarta on Mar 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
What can be done? Perhaps Australia, which we are told is “awash” in AstraZeneca vaccines, could make rapid moves to send desperately needed supplies to Myanmar via its non-government partners. It would be a bold and impressive diplomatic move.
There is then the need for the international community to confront the Myanmar generals for their appalling mishandling of the country since the coup. By seizing control from elected leaders, they have impoverished their own people, sparked new conflicts and exacerbated the damage done by a global pandemic.
The heartbreaking reality is the people of Myanmar have been left without the prospect of significant relief at the worst possible time.
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Adam Simpson is Senior Lecturer, University of South Australia. Nicholas Farrelly is Professor and Head of Social Sciences, University of Tasmania. This commentary first appeared in The Conversation.
KUALA LUMPUR (REUTERS) - Malaysia's special parliamentary sitting will be cut short after the detection of Covid-19 infections in the building, the legislative body said on Saturday (July 31), potentially providing relief for embattled Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
The monarch had asked for the revocation of ordinances related to the handling of the pandemic to be debated in Parliament, but the government said that was not necessary.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim had filed a no-confidence motion against Mr Muhyiddin following comments from the much-revered king.
Eleven Covid-19 infections were detected in Parliament on Thursday.
Under PM Muhyiddin's order, the final day of the special session on Monday (Aug 2) will be postponed, the Parliament secretary's office said in a notice.
The postponement was in line with recommendations from health ministry officials who warned that Parliament was at risk of the spread of Covid-19, the notice said. It did not say when parliament would reconvene.
The royal rebuke is the latest crisis to hit Mr Muhyiddin who has governed with a razor-thin majority and leads an unstable ruling coalition since coming to power in March 2020.
Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy in which the king has a largely ceremonial role, carrying out his duties on advice from the prime minister and Cabinet.
Some analysts say the monarch has discretion over whether an emergency should be declared, however.
Consent from the king, who is revered across Malaysia's multi-ethnic population, is also needed to name a prime minister.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s special parliamentary meeting next Monday (Aug 2) will be postponed to a future date due to COVID-19 cases being detected in parliament, said the secretary of the House of Representatives.
In a statement issued on Saturday, Mr Nizam Mydin Bacha Mydin said the notice to postpone the meeting was issued by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin in line with Standing Order 11(3).
“This postponement is in line with the health director-general's proposal and current risk assessment conducted by the health ministry, as a result of the latest developments regarding COVID-19 spread, where the health ministry is of the opinion that the Malaysian parliament is a locality at risk for the spread of COVID-19,” according to the statement.
“As such, I have been ordered by Deputy Speaker Mohd Rashid Hasnon to deliver this notice to all MPs that the house will not sit on Monday, Aug 2.”
The five-day special parliamentary meeting was supposed to allow the government to brief lawmakers about its COVID-19 response and pave the way for an eventual hybrid parliament sitting. The last day of the meeting was scheduled to take place on Aug 2.
However, the proceedings were overshadowed by an announcement by de facto law minister Takiyuddin Hassan that the emergency ordinances introduced during the state of emergency had been revoked on Jul 21.
In a rare reprimand, the palace said that the government had revoked the ordinances without the king’s consent. "His Majesty stressed that the minister's statement in the parliament on Jul 26 is not accurate and has misled the MPs,” it said.
On Thursday afternoon, the parliament building went into lockdown after it was announced that two COVID-19 cases were detected there. All lawmakers were made to undergo screening while the proceedings were postponed.
The parliament meeting was later adjourned at 5.15pm when the deputy speaker said that two more COVID-19 cases were detected.
Ten of these cases were detected using antigen saliva test kits, while the remaining case was detected through a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, he said.
BEIJING (AFP, REUTERS) - China raced on Saturday (July 31) to contain its worst coronavirus outbreak in months as fresh cases were reported in two more parts of the country including the sprawling megacity of Chongqing.
The highly contagious Delta variant has already been confirmed in the capital Beijing and four other provinces, prompting mass testing and putting more than one million people under lockdown.
The National Health Commission (NHC) said there were 55 new cases as of Friday, including 30 local ones, compared with 21 the previous day. There were no new deaths.
The other 25 cases were imported infections originating overseas.
A majority of the local cases were reported in eastern Jiangsu province, the authority said.
The outbreak is geographically the largest in several months, challenging China’s aggressive containment efforts, which have relied on mass testing, lockdowns and swift contact tracing.
The new cases reported on Saturday in Fujian province and Chongqing included one patient who visited the tourist city of Xi’an, Shaanxi province, and an international cargo crew member at Xiamen Airlines who recently travelled from abroad, authorities said.
State media footage broadcast on Saturday showed residents of Chongqing, a municipality that is home to more than 30 million people, queueing up for virus tests.
Authorities in one city district ordered emergency mass testing late on Friday for people who had visited venues linked to confirmed cases.
Nanjing city authorities ordered all tourist attractions and cultural venues not to open on Saturday, prompted by the spike in domestic transmissions.
China has previously boasted of its success in snuffing out the pandemic within its borders after imposing the world’s first virus lockdown in early 2020 as Covid-19 seeped out of Wuhan, then the disease’s epicentre of the country.
But an outbreak this month driven by the fast-spreading Delta variant has thrown that record into jeopardy, potentially dampening China’s summer tourist season and holiday consumption.
The tourist city of Zhangjiajie in Hunan province, where a handful of cases attended a single theatre performance, locked down all 1.5 million residents and shut all tourist attractions on Friday, according to an official notice.
At least 18 cases have been traced back to the city, the state tabloid Global Times reported. Famed for its striking rock formations, the city is where part of the Avatar blockbuster was filmed.
In Beijing’s Changping district, where two locally transmitted cases have been found, 41,000 people in nine housing communities were placed under lockdown on Thursday.
China’s top disciplinary watchdog has blamed Nanjing airport officials for “poor supervision and unprofessional management” including not separating cleaning staff who worked on international flights from those on domestic flights.
Most of the early Nanjing patients had been vaccinated, a senior doctor in the city was quoted as saying by local media last week, leading online users to question the efficacy of domestic vaccines.
More than 1.6 billion vaccine doses have so far been administered nationwide as of Friday, the NHC said. It does not provide figures of how many people have been fully vaccinated.
Health officials have said they are aiming for 80 per cent of the population to be fully vaccinated by year-end.
KUALA LUMPUR (THE STAR/ ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Malaysia's Health Ministry reported 17,786 coronavirus cases on Saturday (July 31), a record number of infections.
The total number of cases in the country since the start of the pandemic rose to 1,113,272.
As the urgency to inoculate the population heightens, National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP) coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin said walk-in vaccinations will now start on Aug 2 instead of Aug 1.
Walk-in vaccinations in the Klang Valley will begin on Aug 2 and will cater to those above 40 and people with co-morbidities first.
Mr Khairy said that walk-in vaccinations will start to open for those above the age of 18 on Aug 5.
"To avoid any fake news, not all vaccination centres (PPVs) will receive walk-ins," he said at a press conference on Saturday (July 31).
He added that the list of vaccination centres open for walk-ins will be issued by the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) on Saturday.
He added that the walk-in vaccinations will be on a "first-come-first-serve" basis that will depend on the PPV's capacity.
"We will inform the public of the capacity of the PPV on any given day. Those who did not receive the vaccine on that day, will be prioritised on the next day," he said.
Mr Khairy also said the walk-in vaccinations will cater to those who have not received an appointment yet, those who previously cancelled their vaccination appointment and those who have not registered, among others.
"We are confident that by tomorrow, 99 per cent of adults in the Klang Valley will receive their appointments," he said, adding that the walk-in vaccinations will be to "mop-up" those who are the outliers.
KUALA LUMPUR - Several hundred protesters marched peacefully in Kuala Lumpur's city centre on Saturday (July 31) to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
Roads around Merdeka Square, where National Day parades were often held, have been sealed off as protesters dressed in black took to the streets. The demonstration was organised by a coalition of youth and civil society groups, called the Sekretariat Solidariti Rakyat (People's Solidarity Secretariat).
Some brought mock corpses wrapped in white cloth to symbolise the high number of daily Covid-19 deaths in Malaysia, in a criticism of the government's handling of the pandemic.
The coalition is also calling for a full parliamentary sitting and automatic bank loan moratoriums to ease hardship fuelled by the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown.
Traffic police and plainclothes police were seen standing by at the scene, The Star reported. Some marshals donning white safety hats and medics wearing red safety hats were also present.
City police chief Azmi Abu Kassim warned that those who violated Covid-19 health protocols would face police action.
According to The Star, the Commissioner, Datuk Azmi, said the police have not received any application or notice from the organising committee of the proposed gathering.
District police said on Saturday that they would call up the organisers and those who took part in the rally.
"Under the Movement Control Order, no public assemblies are allowed including social gatherings, and sports activities," Mohamad Zainal Abdullah, police chief for Dang Wangi district, told a news conference.
He said police estimated at least 400 people attended the rally.
Youth activist Sarah Irdina, 20, said she was detained for nearly 11 hours, two days ago, over her Twitter posts about the planned protest.
"This failed government's inhumane treatment of those that fight for a better Malaysia is what keeps hurting us Malaysians, when their job is supposedly to protect us. This is why we #lawan (fight)," she wrote on Twitter on Friday (July 30).
The protest comes as PM Muhyiddin faces a constitutional crisis amid pressure to step down after clashing with the King, Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah.
The palace on Thursday insisted that the King did not endorse the government’s unilateral move to withdraw the ordinances under the state of emergency which he proclaimed in January. The state of emergency is due to expire on Sunday.
There had been calls, even from Mr Muhyiddin’s own allies in Umno party, for him to quit.
KUALA LUMPUR - About 200 to 300 protesters gathered in Kuala Lumpur's city centre on Saturday (July 31) morning to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
Roads around Dataran Merdeka have been sealed off as protesters dressed in black took to the streets in a demonstration organised by a coalition of youth and civil society groups, called the Sekretariat Solidariti Rakyat.
The coalition is also calling for a full parliamentary sitting and automatic bank loan moratoriums to ease hardship fuelled by the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown.
Traffic police and plainclothes police were seen standing by at the scene, The Star reported. Some marshals donning white safety hats and medics wearing red safety hats were also present.
City police chief Azmi Abu Kassim warned that those who violated Covid-19 safety protocols would face police action.
According to The Star, the Commissioner, Datuk Azmi, said the police have not received any application or notice from the organising committee of the proposed gathering.
The protest comes as PM Muhyiddin faces a constitutional crisis amid pressure to step down after clashing with the King, Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah.
The palace on Thursday insisted that the King did not endorse the government’s unilateral move to withdraw the ordinances under the state of emergency which he proclaimed in January. It is due to expire on Sunday.
There were calls, even from Mr Muhyiddin’s own allies, for him to quit.
BEIJING (REUTERS, AFP) - China reported on Saturday (July 31) 55 new coronavirus cases in the mainland for July 30, compared with 64 cases a day earlier, the health authority said.
The National Health Commission said in a statement 30 of the new infections were local cases, compared with 21 the previous day. There were no new deaths.
A majority of the local cases were reported in Jiangsu province, the authority said.
More than 200 infections nationwide have been linked to a cluster in eastern Jiangsu province, where nine cleaners at an international airport in the city of Nanjing tested positive on July 20.
The Nanjing city authorities ordered all tourist attractions and cultural venues not to open on Saturday, prompted by the spike in domestic transmissions.
The tourist city of Zhangjiajie in Hunan province, where a handful of cases attended a single theatre performance, locked down all 1.5 million residents and shut all tourist attractions on Friday, according to an official notice.
Famed for its striking rock formations, the city is where part of the Avatar blockbuster was filmed.
In Beijing's Changping district, where two locally transmitted cases have been found, 41,000 people in nine housing communities were placed under lockdown on Thursday.
China has previously boasted of its success in snuffing out the pandemic within its borders after imposing the world's first virus lockdown in early last year as Covid-19 seeped out of Wuhan in the centre of the country.
But an outbreak this month driven by the fast-spreading Delta variant has thrown that record into jeopardy.
As of July 30, mainland China had a total of 92,930 confirmed coronavirus cases. China’s death toll from the coronavirus remained unchanged at 4,636.
JAKARTA: Donning full personal protection equipment (PPE), Hary Akbar raced his ambulance through the traffic.
It was early July, and the volunteer ambulance driver had just picked up a 56-year-old COVID-19 patient in Tangerang, on the outskirts of Jakarta.
However, the hospital he first drove to rejected the patient as it was out of beds. After scouring Tangerang, he decided to try his luck in Jakarta.
“I was anxious, especially because I had been in the ambulance with the patient for a while, afraid that I could contract the disease. But I wasn’t worried he would die because he was still conscious,” the driver recounted.
After 6 hours on the road and being rejected by 12 hospitals, Mr Akbar and the patient agreed to call it a day and returned to the latter’s home.
The following day, Mr Akbar returned to the patient’s residence, intending to continue with the search.
But the patient had died, breathing his last around 3 hours after Mr Akbar dropped him off.
“I didn’t know because he was still aware when I dropped him home. He could still talk,” he told CNA.
Mr Akbar’s account reflects how Indonesia’s healthcare system has been overwhelmed as COVID-19 cases spike.
An ambulance passes near a roadblock during the delivery of a patient suffering from coronavirus disease (COVID-19), as cases surge in Depok, on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia, July 13, 2021. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana
After a first wave of cases last year, things appeared to have tapered off by the first quarter of this year as people began to come to terms with what they thought was a new normal scenario.
However, things took a dark turn after the Idul Fitri holiday in May, with new daily caseload records being set repeatedly.
Despite emergency curbs being implemented, hospital beds are lacking and many COVID-19 patients have reportedly been denied treatment, forcing them to self-isolate at home.
Meanwhile, informal sector workers are reeling from the prolonged restrictions.
Indonesia is at the moment recording the world’s highest COVID-19 daily caseload and deaths, and experts are concerned that there may be long lasting damage as the pandemic drags on.
As of Friday (Jul 30), there have been more than 3.3 million cases in the country and more than 92,000 deaths.
MARCH 2020: FIRST CASES EMERGE
When neighbouring countries Singapore and Malaysia announced their first COVID-19 cases last year in January, Indonesia still reported zero infections.
At the end of February, the government budgeted 72 billion rupiah (US$4.97 million) to promote tourism, targeted at those from Europe and America as travellers from China were unable to visit due to a lockdown imposed in their country to curb the coronavirus.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo talks as Indonesia's then Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto sits next to him during a news conference at Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, March 2, 2020 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Sigid Kurniawan/ via REUTERS
The caseload grew quickly. In less than two weeks, the country reported its first death linked to COVID-19.
With the number of cases growing, Jakarta converted its 2018 Asian Games Athlete’s Village into a COVID-19 makeshift hospital. By the time it opened doors to patients on Mar 23, Indonesia had over 500 cases.
The large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) would allow cities and provinces to shut down non-essential services and limit religious and social activities, subject to the approval of the health minister.
On Apr 10, Jakarta was the first to implement PSBB for two weeks.
Jakarta, which is also the centre of Indonesia’s economic activity, extended the PSBB several times before relaxing certain measures in July, only to reimpose it again in September as the cumulative national caseload breached 200,000.
In November, the statistics agency said that Indonesia had fallen into its first recession in 22 years. The economy contracted by 2.07 per cent in 2020.
In late December, Jokowi, after earlier expressing disapproval over how some of the ministers were handling the pandemic, reshuffled his Cabinet. He replaced six ministers, among them the health minister, social affairs minister and tourism and creative economy minister.
As cases continued to spike into the new year, the government decided to replace PSBB with curbs called community-level public activity enforcement (PPKM), which allowed local community leaders to impose restrictions in their area without the approval of the health minister.
The national vaccination programme was launched on Jan 13, with Jokowi receiving his first dose of the Sinovac vaccine. Then, he set the target of 181.5 million people, which translates to roughly 70 per cent of the country's 270 million population, to be inoculated by early 2022.
President Joko Widodo on Jan 13, 2021, received the first shot of a Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccine after Indonesia approved it for emergency use. (Photo: Indonesian Presidential Palace via AP)
After hitting a record-breaking 14,518 new cases on Jan 30, the number of infections started to decline.
This was followed by what Indonesians then called a period of “new normal”, with many workers returning to their offices. People started to gather and Jakarta’s notorious traffic, which was gone for a few months in 2020, was also back.
MAY 2021: IDUL FITRI SPARKS CONCERN OVER 2ND WAVE
In the lead-up to Idul Fitri, the government announced that there would be a travel ban from May 6 to May 17 to prevent people from going to other provinces to celebrate the end of Ramadan.
Nevertheless, it did not stop people from travelling. Some decided to travel before May 6 or after May 17, while others managed to find loopholes during the travel ban period.
A snaking queue at Senen Train Station in Jakarta on May 4, 2021 for passengers looking to take a COVID-19 rapid test, a travel requirement ahead of a travel ban during the Ramadan homecoming season. (Photo: Nivell Rayda)
Economic activity was also high in the lead up to Idul Fitri, with many visiting markets to prepare for the festivities.
On May 12, a day before Idul Fitri, the country’s health ministry revealed that Sinovac, which was the main plank in the country’s vaccination programme, was 98 per cent effective at preventing death and 96 per cent effective at preventing hospitalisation among a group of inoculated Indonesian medical workers.
The findings were based on data from about 120,000 medical staff in Jakarta who had received the vaccine between January and March.
A few days after Idul Fitri, Jakarta’s COVID-19 makeshift hospital recorded its lowest occupancy since its inception at 16.22 per cent.
Nevertheless, the government said that it anticipated a hike in COVID-19 cases as last year's Idul Fitri’s holiday led to an increase of about 60 to 70 per cent of infections.
Thus, they added up to 72,000 isolation beds, about 20,000 of which were already occupied before the holiday.
At least 7,500 intensive care unit (ICU) beds were also added, of which around 2,000 were occupied before Idul Fitri.
When interviewed by CNA on Jun 2, health minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said that the government expected the spike in cases after Idul Fitri to peak by the end of June because based on previous holidays, the number of COVID-19 cases will continue to climb up to seven weeks after the vacation period.
At that time, the daily infections stood at around 5,000 cases, up from around 3,000 around Idul Fitri.
By mid-June, the daily caseload had doubled. And by the last week of June, Indonesia recorded more than 20,000 daily cases, as reports about hospitals being overloaded started to emerge.
Mr Sadikin said on Jun 25 that more hospitals and beds have been prepared in Jakarta to handle the surge in cases.
Medical workers carry a man on stretcher from an emergency tent made to accommodate COVID-19 patients at a hospital in Bekasi, West Java, Indonesia, Monday, June 28, 2021.(AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
He also took the opportunity to assure the public that there was sufficient oxygen supply on Java island amid reports that it was about to run out of oxygen.
Mr Sadikin said that of Indonesia’s total oxygen production capacity, 25 per cent is used for medical purposes and the rest is for industries.
DELTA VARIANT FUELS SURGE
This year’s post-Idul Fitri spike in caseload is significantly higher than last year’s and several regions have seen an increase of more than 200 per cent.
Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Pandjaitan admitted on Jul 1 that the government did not expect the spike would be so high.
Patients with breathing problem are seen outside the emergency ward at a government-run hospital, as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases surges, in Jakarta, Indonesia, July 1, 2021. Picture taken July 1, 2021. REUTERS/Yuddy Cahya Budiman
The government has indicated that most COVID-19 cases currently are the Delta variant.
Experts interviewed by CNA believe the highly contagious variant played a significant role in the surge of COVID-19 cases.
Dr Masdalina Pane, head of the Professional Development Division of the Indonesian Association of Epidemiology Experts (PAEI) and member of the national COVID-19 task force said that about 92 per cent of cases now are the Delta variant.
Professor Zubairi Djoerban, head of the COVID-19 task force at the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) said that the Delta variant is very easily transmittable and more dangerous compared to the initial variant resulting in patients needing treatment at a hospital.
Medical personnel tend to Covid-19 patients in a tent set up outside a hospital in Bogor, as infections soar in Indonesia AFP/ADITYA AJI
He also noted that antibodies developed by previous strains as usually found in people who had been infected with COVID-19 do not seem to offer much protection against Delta.
“So there are some people who already got COVID-19 but then got reinfected,” he said.
Dr Pane and epidemiologist from Surabaya’s Airlangga University Atik Choirul Hidajah opined that weak testing and contact tracing exacerbated the condition.
“Because the suspected cases have not been traced, so there is no testing. And if people are not tested, they cannot be treated,” Dr Hidajah pointed out.
HOSPITAL BEDS, OXYGEN IN SHORT SUPPLY
With daily cases regularly breaching the 25,000 mark, the government decided to implement broad emergency community restrictions starting Jul 3 until Jul 25 on the populous island of Java as well as Bali.
Initially called PPKM Emergency but later renamed to PPKM Level 4, people’s movements were restricted according to the sectors that they work in, namely non-essential, essential and critical sectors. All malls were shut while dining-in was banned.
Mr Pandjaitan, who was appointed by the president as the PPKM Emergency coordinator for Java and Bali, said that the restrictions must be enforced as the country had seen a spike in COVID-19 cases of about 230 per cent since the end of May.
The restrictions were later enforced in 15 other regions outside of Java and Bali.
By early July, hospitals in the archipelago were almost full, said Dr Lia Partakusuma, secretary-general of the Association of Hospitals in Indonesia on Jul 5 in a hearing at the parliament.
On Java island, the bed occupancy rate (BOR) of many hospitals has reached 90 per cent. Thus, people were urged to isolate themselves at home unless they are severely ill.
While the government prepared new COVID-19 makeshift hospitals and added more beds, it also launched free telemedicine services in Jakarta for patients with mild symptoms to ensure they still receive medical care while isolating at home. Those who participated in teleconsultations would also receive free medicines.
Despite the government’s assurance on Jun 25 that there was sufficient oxygen supply on Java island, dozens of patients reportedly died at a hospital in Yogyakarta in early July after it ran out of oxygen supply.
Mr Pandjaitan said at a press conference on Jul 5 that oxygen distribution was hampered due to a threefold to fourfold increase in demand. He asked oxygen producers to fully dedicate their supply to medical needs.
People queue up to refill their oxygen tanks at a filling station in Jakarta, Indonesia, Jul 5, 2021. (Photo: AP/Dita Alangkara)
Across Java and Bali, snaking queues were seen at oxygen centres as people tried to buy oxygen for their loved ones who have tested positive.
Some had to buy oxygen because they had family members who were self-isolating at home. There were also others who needed to procure oxygen for their loved ones who were hospitalised as the facilities had no stock.
These oxygen centres, which are mostly run privately, sell oxygen tanks as well as oxygen supply for a refill.
“I have been to two other places, they were all out of stock,” said Mr Faisal, a recently recovered COVID-19 patient, when met at an oxygen centre in Jakarta on Jul 8.
He wanted to purchase oxygen supply for his parents, who were down with COVID-19 and whose oxygen saturation was below 90 per cent.
Speaking at a virtual press conference on Jul 9, deputy health minister Dante Saksono said that Java’s oxygen production capacity was 1,400 tonnes daily, but Java and Bali needed 2,600 tonnes every day.
Indonesia has since received oxygen concentrators from Singapore, South Korea, India and Switzerland.
Under an arrangement known as the “Oxygen Shuttle” programme, Singapore will also send regular shipments of oxygen supplies to Indonesia at its request. More than 500 tonnes of oxygen will be shipped to Indonesia from Jul 19 until August.
ISO tanks filled with liquid oxygen arriving at Changi Naval Base for transport by the Republic of Singapore Navy, Jul 11 2021. (Photo: Ministry of Defence)
Despite these measures, oxygen remains highly sought after, especially when people are self-isolating at home.
Without immediate access to proper healthcare and supervision, there have been cases of people dying at home while undergoing self-isolation, according to non-governmental organisations.
Jakarta-based health think tank Center for Indonesia’s Strategic Development Initiative (CISDI) reported that in West Java province, more than 400 COVID-19 patients died in the first week of July while isolating at home.
Furthermore, citizen coalition LaporCOVID-19 noted that 1,100 people died between June and Jul 30 in 17 provinces, among them were elderly people who died alone at home while isolating.
The health ministry has no data on the number of COVID-19 patients who died at home, but an official with Jakarta’s health agency who is the head of disease prevention and control Dr Dwi Oktavia told CNA that since the end of June, the city has buried about 300 deaths with COVID-19 health protocols every day.
Sinta, 32, and her brothers use plastic to cover the body of their 56-year-old mother who passed away at home due to complications related to COVID-19, before the burial, in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia, July 11, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan
This figure included 30 to 40 daily deaths at home. The capital city’s health agency has so far recorded 1,284 deaths at home.
Meanwhile, the government is trying to address a shortage of healthcare workers.
Authorities are trying to recruit about 3,000 doctors and 16,000 to 20,000 nurses by identifying those who have just graduated or are currently in their final semesters.
In order to prevent more health workers from contracting COVID-19, the government has started to inoculate them with Moderna booster shots.
INFORMAL SECTOR WORKERS BEAR THE BRUNT
It is not just on the medical front that the situation is dire. The pandemic has caused an economic crisis not seen in over two decades in Indonesia.
As of August last year, 29.12 million workers or 14.28 per cent of Indonesia’s total working-age population were affected by the pandemic.
Many employees had their working hours reduced, experienced job loss or reduced wages.
When the economy recovered slightly, the number of people affected by the pandemic fell to 19.1 million or about 9.3 per cent of the country’s working-age population in February this year.
About 8.75 million were unemployed in February, a rise of 26.26 per cent compared to the same period the previous year, according to data from the statistics agency.
Vehicles move on a main road near a billboard with a campaign for double face-mask awareness, at the Sudirman Central Business District (SCBD), as government eases the emergency restrictions amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the capital of Jakarta, Indonesia, July 26, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan
In Jakarta where PPKM is currently being enforced until Aug 2, fishmonger Nawawi and prayer clothes seller Mia Daud were among those reeling from the restrictions.
As a seller of basic essential necessities, Mr Nawawi has been allowed to continue to trade at a wet market in South Jakarta. But his income has shrunk dramatically.
“Before this PPKM I could earn five million rupiah per day. But now, sometimes I don’t even get one million,” said the man who goes by one name.
Mdm Daud had to close her shop from Jul 3 to Jul 25, as it was not considered a daily essential service.
“When restrictions were first introduced (last year), I could sell alternatively online or via social media. But during this PPKM, everything had to stop because our market shut down early and I didn’t have the chance to pick up my goods,” she told CNA.
Indonesia lost its status as an upper-middle-income nation this month, just a year after it was classified as one. The World Bank downgraded Indonesia to lower-middle-income status as of the beginning of July, with a gross national income per capita of US$3,870, down from previously US$4,050.
Notwithstanding the downturn, economist Sri Adiningsih from Yogyakarta’s Gajah Mada University believes that economically, the worst is over for Indonesia.
But she noted that the social impact on people’s lives is significant and thus the government needs to provide meaningful incentives when imposing restrictions, especially to micro-businesses.
She said that 98 per cent of Indonesia’s micro, small and medium enterprises are micro enterprises. Almost 90 per cent of those who work in micro, small and medium enterprises are employed by micro enterprises.
“So they are very dependent on day to day economic movements, unlike formal workers who receive a monthly salary.”
“If the economy is stopped abruptly, the impact will be quite huge and the government seems to realise this. So sometimes, it focuses on health, but other times when things have gotten better, they focus on the economy,” said Prof Adiningsih who was head of the presidential advisory board from 2015 to 2019.
Traditional markets selling daily basic necessities may open as usual while traditional markets that sell other than daily basic necessities, may open with a maximum capacity of 50 per cent until 3pm.
Street vendors, grocery stores, mobile phone voucher agents or outlets, barbershops, laundromats, hawkers, small automotive repair shops, car wash, and similar small businesses are allowed to open until 9pm.
Locals wearing protective masks, to prevent the spread of COVID-19, stand in line to receive assistance from Indonesian president in Jakarta, Indonesia, Jul 16, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Willy Kurniawan)
Assistance will be given to micro and small businesses where 3 million new recipients will receive 1.2 million rupiah each.
Moreover, the government will provide fiscal incentives by bearing the Value Added Tax (VAT) of rentals in shopping centres from June to August 2021.
Prof Ardiningsih said that in the best scenario, the economy could grow by 3 per cent this year.
“I don’t think it will be as bad as last year because last year we were still shocked, and initially there was no safety net.”
She said that people have now adjusted themselves to the new normal and have found new ways of getting income if they were economically affected by the pandemic, even though things may not necessarily be better.
“We will begin to develop because we have adapted. The worst is over for the economy. We won't grow at 5 per cent, or 6 per cent, it will take time. But I think we will grow positively gradually.”
"WE WILL SEE MORE PEOPLE DIE": ANALYST
Amid the challenging situation, the government has urged people to remain optimistic.
To curb COVID-19, the government aims to optimise testing, tracing and treatment of COVID-19 patients in Java and Bali starting Jul 26.
The target is to find at least eight close contacts per patient by optimising digital tracing.
The health minister said in early July that it would increase testing and tracing by four times the current rate so that it can test 400,000 cases daily, although as of the end of July, testing remains at around 100,000 to 200,000 cases daily.
Furthermore, the government also plans to set up centralised quarantine centres to monitor patients.
The government is also trying to increase the capacity of ICUs by supplying central oxygen in regions with high fatality rates to reduce deaths.
Meanwhile, the president is continuing to push ahead with more vaccinations.
The national inoculation target has grown to 208 million people since adolescents can now also be vaccinated with Sinovac in Indonesia. Jokowi wants 2 million doses to be administered daily in August.
A medical worker gives a shot of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine to a train passenger during a vaccination campaign at the Jakarta Kota train station in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, July 28, 2021. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
So far, about 7.5 per cent of the population have received both doses of the vaccines.
Yogyakarta currently has the highest BOR nationally at 85 per cent. Jakarta's BOR is now 60 per cent.
Despite the measures, public policy expert Agus Pambagio from think-tank PH & H Public Policy Interest Group underlined that the policies need to be clear.
“PSBB, PPKM and then various forms of PPKM, I myself am confused: ‘What is the difference between one from the other? How will it be implemented on the ground?’
“I pity those who need to implement them such as the police, military, public order enforcers, every apparatus, they are confused and people become apathetic,” he said.
Meanwhile, a sociology Associate Professor at Nanyang Technological University Sulfikar Amir said the problem is that Indonesia does not have a permanent mitigation framework for the pandemic.
“So they just come up with new terms, whenever they have a new situation,” Assoc Prof Amir told CNA.
“I am not blaming the government, but in this kind of situation, only the government has the resources, the authority to do everything that we need.”
People wearing protective masks are pictured as they shop at a traditional market as government eases the emergency restrictions amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the capital of Jakarta, Indonesia, July 26, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan
In the current situation, Assoc Prof Amir believes that the socio-economic challenges are not as worrying as the healthcare situation.
“Maybe there won’t be unrest, but we will see more people die,” he said.
“We will see long damage in terms of public health. Of course the socio-economic impact will be substantial as well because Indonesia is now increasing in debts and it’s going to take years to recover from the economic restrictions which we have now.”
The national debt has crept up from US$403 billion in 2019 to US$414 billion in July this year, according to the central bank.
Finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said earlier this month that borrowing is “an instrument to save our citizens and our economy”.
"We (finance ministry) respond with whatever it takes. Whatever we do to save the people and the Indonesian economy. This step has implications for the state budget deficit," she noted.
Chairman of the Indonesian Health Economics Association (InaHEA) Professor Hasbullah Thabrany noted that rising debt in the current situation is inevitable.
While the debts would eventually be repaid over time given the taxes collected, it may require a long repayment period, he said.
“We can do it in 25 years, but we cannot do it in 10 years. One generation (is needed and) that’s okay, we still have time,” said Prof Thabrany.
