JAKARTA • The Indonesian government is set to step up its public campaign to encourage mask-wearing in the next few weeks as Covid-19 cases in the country continue to rise, The Jakarta Post reported.
Indonesia reported 2,473 new coronavirus infections yesterday, bringing the total to 121,226, data from the government's Covid-19 task force website showed. The country also reported 72 new deaths, taking the total to 5,593.
The virus has spread to all of the country's 34 provinces.
"(President Joko Widodo) has asked us to educate the public on health protocols," Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy said in a statement on Tuesday. "We (will) start with the essential, which is mask-wearing."
He added that the government would establish a programme, spearheaded by the coordinating minister's office, to intensify the campaign to wear a face mask in public places, including appointing a mask-wearing "ambassador" and distributing social aid packages that include face masks.
The government also plans to issue public service commercials in print and online publications, social media and billboards, in addition to educating the public on the law regarding wearing a face mask.
"The main targets of this campaign are people who have activities in traditional and modern markets, terminals, stations, public facilities, houses of worship, public open spaces, those who co-live such as in orphanages and those who have activities on the streets, and so on," The Post quoted Mr Muhadjir as saying.
The coordinating minister also ordered the Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Ministry and the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry to procure a large number of face masks from micro and ultra-micro industries to fulfil the public need while supporting small businesses, The Post said.
Compliance with health protocols still leaves much to be desired. For example, the Jakarta administration announced on Monday that it had collected a total of 2.47 billion rupiah (S$232,000) in fines from violators of social restrictions, including from 62,198 people who were not wearing a mask.
Separately, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin will launch a new campaign to battle the pandemic today, the Bernama news agency reported.
Ministry of Communications and Multimedia secretary-general Suriani Ahmad said the action of every member of the community was crucial in the current crisis.
"This campaign is to raise the awareness level and empower the people to protect themselves, their families and the community in the effort to fight Covid-19 and cultivate the new norms.
"Now, we (the society) are the front liners. We used to rely on nurses, doctors and police per-sonnel. Now, it is our turn to step forward as the front liners to fight the Covid-19 pandemic," she said in a live broadcast on the Buletin Bernama programme produced by Bernama TV.
The Embracing New Norms campaign will be launched by Tan Sri Muhyiddin in Johor today.
The campaign, which will be carried out until December, aims to instil self-disciplined practices among ordinary Malaysians to curb the spread of Covid-19.
