TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Jakarta administration has appealed to all stakeholders to obey large-scale social restrictions, which include closure of offices reporting confirmed cases for three days for sterilization, after 18 legislators tested positive for COVID-19.

"The regulation stipulates that if there are confirmed COVID-19 cases in a place, it must be closed for three days. This regulation must be enforced," Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan told local journalists at the Jakarta City Hall on Wednesday.

The temporary closures are aimed at sterilizing office areas to halt the spread of the deadly virus, he said, adding that not all buildings within a complex area would be shut for three days.

Only those buildings where workers have been infected will be closed. "So, if there are workers at a City Hall building who have tested positive for COVID-19, only that building will be closed," Baswedan clarified.

Coronavirus infections initially emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019. Since then, COVID-19 has spread to over 215 countries and territories, including 34 provinces of Indonesia, with a massive spurt in death toll.

To protect Indonesians from the deadly virus, the Indonesian government has been striving to obtain COVID-19 vaccine candidates through bilateral and multilateral mechanisms.

Indonesia, for instance, is collaborating with China on Sinovac Biotech's candidate vaccine, but it is also leaving no stone unturned to develop its own vaccine.

In addition to the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine, Indonesian scientists are currently working on an indigenous vaccine named after the country's national flag, Merah Putih (Red and White).

Meanwhile, President Joko Widodo has signed Presidential Regulation No. 99/2020 on COVID-19 Vaccine Procurement and Vaccination for Handling COVID-19 Pandemic on October 5, 2020, specifying the vaccine procurement and immunization schedule.

According to the regulation, vaccine procurement and vaccinations would be carried out in 2020, 2021, and 2022.

The Committee for Handling the COVID-19 Pandemic and National Economic Recovery will be able to extend the immunization window by referring to the Health Ministry's request.

According to Article 2 Point 6 of the regulation, the government will prioritize the procurement of the vaccine from Indonesia, while Article 5 Point 1 states that state pharmaceutical holding company PT Bio Farma has been tasked with procuring the vaccine.

The Indonesian Health Ministry has assigned the task to PT Bio Farma, which may involve its sister companies -- PT Kimia Farma Tbk dan PT Indonesia Farma Tbk — in carrying it out.

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ANTARA