TEMPO.CO, South Sulawesi - The Hasanuddin University's (Unhas') Public Health Faculty welcomed the South Sulawesi provincial government's suggestion to join its COVID-19 prevention and mitigation team in response to Governor HM Nurdin Abdullah's visit to the faculty's campus, Friday.

Governor Abdullah officially sought the faculty's participation in developing prevention and mitigation strategies along with those from the provincial government's COVID-19 team, Dean of Unhas' Public Health Faculty Aminuddin Syam stated here, Saturday.

"Mr. governor has sought institutional collaboration with the provincial administration to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic to fill the gap in human resources. We are urged to get involved directly in developing strategies to halt transmission of the virus," he noted.

Governor Abdullah has sought a comprehensive and integrated handling of COVID-19 cases, including the involvement of epidemiologists and those with contact tracing capabilities, he revealed.

South Sulawesi is one of the Indonesian provinces affected by the coronavirus infections that initially emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019.

To contain the spread of COVID-19, the Indonesian authorities had enacted large-scale social restrictions and distancing measures in various cities, including Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi Province, and metropolitan areas of Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi.

Makassar has become the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in South Sulawesi. To prevent the spread of the virus, Governor Abdullah appealed to outsiders to defer their plans to visit the province during the recent Eid al-Fitr "mudik" (homecoming) season.

"Mudik" refers to the annual exodus of citizens to their hometowns to celebrate Idul Fitri with their extended families and colleagues.

Apart from enforcing large-scale social restrictions and banning mudik, the central government has also initiated COVID-19 research and innovation projects to enable it to accelerate the handling of this deadly virus pandemic.

In connection with this program, the Indonesian Research and Technology Ministry revealed it had accrued funds reaching almost Rp200 billion for financing research on developing a vaccine, medicines, and other innovative products to support Indonesia's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We believe that the funds we have collected are sufficient to finance research and innovation efforts up to the prototype stage," Research and Technology Minister Bambang P. S. Brodjonegoro noted in a statement circulated on YouTube on May 27.

ANTARA