TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) Ministry dispensed three million surgical face masks to many Indonesian regions in an effort to prevent the coronavirus (Covid-19) from further spreading.

“Three million masks as promised by Pak Erick (SOE Minister) have been available. Yesterday, all of them have been distributed in 48 regencies/cities of Indonesia,” said a special staffer for the SOE Ministry, Arya Sinulingga, in Jakarta, Thursday, April 2.

In details, Arya outlined the assistance had been allocated to Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi, Kalimantan, Papua, Bali, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), and Maluku.

“We distribute them through Kimia Farma. The people even have purchased and queued at various places to obtain it in accordance with the set procedure,” Arya added, referring to the state-owned pharmaceutical company.

The SOEs, he went on, were striving to fulfill the public needs of medical masks in the archipelago. “We are continuously trying so it can be reached by the people.”

Previously, SOE Minister Erick Thohir said state pharmacies had got the raw materials of face masks from some countries in a bid to meet the public needs amid the pandemic.

“We get the raw materials of papers from other countries. But the mask can be produced mainly in the country,” Erick said, adding that pharmacies had also got a supply of drugs to treat patients with Covid-19.

ANTARA