Joe Biden has introduced a vaccine mandate affecting millions, but some countries have gone further
Following the decision by the US president, Joe Biden, to introduce a vaccine mandate for millions of workers, and the UK government’s decision to row back on its push to require vaccine passports for nightclubs and other crowded events, where does the issue of insisting on vaccination stand globally?
Continue reading...Kompas TV showed footage of firefighters trying to put out huge flames from the top of a building in Banten province in western Java
A fire at a jail in Indonesia has killed 40 people, authorities have said.
The fire in the prison in Banten province broke out at some time between 1am and 2am on Wednesday morning, a spokesperson for the prison department of the law and human rights ministry said.
Continue reading...Goffin’s cockatoos on Indonesia’s Tanimbar Islands crafted three different types of tools from tree branches to obtain seeds from sea mangoes
Australian bird of the year 2021: nominate your favourite for the shortlist
Wild cockatoos have been observed using three types of tools as “cutlery” to extract seeds from tropical fruit.
Researchers made the discovery while studying Goffin’s cockatoos on the Tanimbar Islands, a remote archipelago in Indonesia.
Continue reading...After 18 months of remote learning, some students will re-enter classrooms as the capital sees a fall in coronavirus infections
After almost 18 months, children in Jakarta will begin to re-enter classrooms on Monday, as Indonesia, which faces on of the worst Covid outbreaks globally, eases restrictions in some areas.
Indonesia began gradually loosening its lockdown measures last week, allowing restaurants and places of worship to open their doorsat 25% capacity, and malls to operate at 50% capacity. The relaxed rules were introduced across several regions in Java and Bali , including greater Jakarta, greater Bandung and greater Surabaya.
Continue reading...Skeleton of hunter-gatherer found in Leang Panninge cave sheds light on ancient human migration
Archaeologists have discovered ancient DNA in the remains of a woman who died 7,200 years ago in Indonesia, a find that challenges what was previously known about migration of early humans.
The remains, belonging to a teenager nicknamed Bessé, were discovered in the Leang Panninge cave on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Initial excavations were undertaken in 2015.
Continue reading...Human rights groups welcome chief of staff’s apparent decision to end the decades-long, ‘abusive’ practice
Human rights organisations have welcomed the Indonesian army’s apparent decision to end the “abusive” and long-criticised “virginity testing” of female recruitments.
The procedure is known in Indonesia as “the two-finger test”, because during the examination the doctors would insert two fingers inside the woman’s vagina to check whether the hymen is still intact or not. Those declared not to be a virgin would be rejected for recruitment.
Continue reading...Frustrations with government response and anti-vaxxers as country struggles to cope with variant
Indonesia’s health ministry has recorded 1,747 new deaths of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, pushing the nation’s total deaths to 100,636.
The south-east Asian country has been struggling to cope with the highly contagious Delta variant since it was first discovered in Indonesia in late June. According to Our World in Data, Indonesia’s total number of infections has now reached 3.53 million.
Continue reading...World Health Organization has called on government to impose tighter virus curbs
Indonesia’s government has said small businesses and some shopping malls can reopen despite warnings that loosening curbs could spark another Covid wave.
President Joko Widodo said measures imposed in early July would continue until 2 August as the Delta variant spreads across the country, which has been overtaking India and Brazil as the world’s virus epicentre.
Continue reading...Shortages of beds and oxygen as Covid variant reaches areas with weaker healthcare systems
Scenes that have for months haunted hospitals across Indonesia’s Java island are appearing across the country, as the Delta variant spreads to new provinces, causing shortages of beds and oxygen.
Images have circulated on social media of overstretched hospitals in both Papua and Kalimantan. One video shows a patient lying inside an ambulance, with two of his relatives sitting next to him. “The people need help. [I] have brought them to hospitals but all of them rejected us. [The hospitals] said there is no oxygen. How come the government can’t provide oxygen?” the ambulance driver, who recorded the video, can be heard saying. The Twitter account reported that the patient finally died.
Continue reading...Restrictions on mobility introduced to stop the spread of the virus have been catastrophic for those living in poverty
Usually every Eid al-Adha, Riki Priyanto’s father would bring home goat or beef from the nearby mosque. The meat had been donated by devotees and distributed to the poor, like Riki’s family, to celebrate the Islamic day of sacrifice.
His mother would cook goat meat satay for their lunch and Riki would sit next to his three younger siblings in the middle of their 3x3m house in North Jakarta. They would eat the special meal together.
Continue reading...Health systems overwhelmed as Delta variant sweeps across south-east Asia
Indonesia has reported more daily Covid-19 infections than India and Brazil as the Delta strain sweeps across south-east Asia, placing intense pressure on health systems.
Most countries in the region are experiencing their worst outbreaks since the pandemic began, fuelled by the emergence of more aggressive variants and a lack of vaccines.
Continue reading...More restrictions are being considered as the country battles its worst outbreak yet
Thailand has imposed a nationwide ban on public gatherings and was considering more restrictions on movement as authorities reported record numbers of new cases and deaths on Saturday.
Despite partial lockdowns in Bangkok and nine other provinces this week, the country’s Covid-19 task force reported 10,082 new coronavirus cases and 141 new deaths, bringing the total number of infections to 391,989 cases and 3,240 fatalities since the pandemic started.
Continue reading...As the country becomes the epicentre of the pandemic, a growing number of volunteer groups have assembled to fill in gaps in the government response
Every day, before 7am, volunteers gather in front of a house in Yogyakarta. Wearing masks and maintaining distance, they measure and cut panels of wood, smoothing the edges with sandpaper. For the past 11 days, the front yard has been turned into an emergency casket-making workshop. The coffins are painted white, and lined inside with plastic.
The volunteers are lecturers, security guards, artists and police officers who set aside their time to help the community, which is being ravaged by Covid. They work until nightfall.
Continue reading...Critics accuse government of incompetence, denial and dragging its feet in response to pandemic
From her home in Pamekasan, East Java, Dr Ratna Hermawati can hear the names of the dead echoing out across her neighbourhood. A new Covid-19 fatality is announced from a speaker at the nearby mosque at least five times a day. Ratna would normally be at work, managing the hospital’s overstretched isolation rooms, but, after testing positive for Covid, she has been required to stay home.
“I know my fellow medical workers are trying our best to use whatever we have to serve our patients,” she said. Nine other doctors in the hospital are also infected, just as the wards are busier than ever.
Continue reading...Pan-Asian labour rights group launches groundbreaking attempt to hold global labels accountable for alleged rights violations during pandemic
Legal complaints are being filed against some of the world’s largest fashion brands in major garment-producing countries across Asia in a groundbreaking attempt to hold the global fashion industry legally accountable for human rights violations in the countries where their clothing is made.
The Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA), a pan-Asian labour rights group, says it is using legal challenges to argue that global clothing brands should be considered joint employers, along with their suppliers, under national laws and be held accountable for alleged wage violations during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Continue reading...Shortages of beds, oxygen and staff reported across island of Java as number of cases rise sharply
Hospitals across the Indonesian island of Java are running out of oxygen, medicines, beds and even staff as a sharp rise in Covid cases pushes the country’s health system to the brink.
Indonesia, which is facing one of the worst outbreaks in Asia, announced 34,379 new cases and 1,040 fatalities on Wednesday, both record highs.
Continue reading...Aid package, including 1,000 ventilators, announced after nation records daily high of 31,189 coronavirus cases
Australia will send 2.5m AstraZeneca vaccine doses to Indonesia and will fund 1,000 ventilators as the country battles record-high Covid cases that are pushing the health system to breaking point.
The aid package, announced on Wednesday night, is in response to growing calls for Australia to help its most populous neighbour.
Continue reading...Critics say government not doing enough to help neighbour as record cases deplete oxygen supplies
The Australian government has been urged to rapidly step up its assistance to Indonesia, amid warnings the sharp rise in Covid-19 cases is fuelling an “escalating crisis right on our doorstep”.
With aid groups fearing the Indonesian health system is on the verge of collapse, and with oxygen and bed shortages reported in some hospitals, there are growing calls for the Morrison government to help its most populous neighbour.
Continue reading...A roundup of the coverage on struggles for human rights and freedoms, from Chile to Cambodia
Continue reading...Spread of the Delta variant blamed for significant rise in cases that have threatened to overwhelm the medical system
Standing outside the glass wall at one of the emergency installations in a hospital in Tangerang, Benten, Uta Verina Maukar, 26, looked at her mother as she lay resting on a bed. She texted her mother, telling her that she was standing outside. Her mother looked at her from across the room, and with an oxygen mask on her face, tried to sit up so she could see her better. They both looked at each other like that for a while. That was the last time Uta saw her mother’s face.
She died from Covid the following day. She was 51.
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