Southeast Asia’s top diplomats praised China’s handling of the virus outbreak and pledged Thursday to help fight the disease that emerged in a central Chinese city and spread in the region.
Health
Authorities in Indonesia have launched an investigation following the discovery of radioactive contamination in an empty lot in a housing complex near a nuclear research facility.
Indonesia will hold the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualification this week despite a concern over the threat of COVID-19, the disease resulting from the novel coronavirus.
A surfeit of disinformation is hampering public health efforts to contain and counter the coronavirus disease before it turns into a fully-fledged global pandemic.
Three of 78 Indonesian crew members on board a cruise ship anchored off the coast of Japan’s Yokohama have tested positive for the coronavirus, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said.
The government has confirmed that 362 Indonesians working as crew members aboard the MS Westerdam cruise ship docked in Cambodia are in a healthy condition.
“We owe it to God,” said Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto, a military doctor and radiologist whose expertise does not include pandemic viruses. “It’s because of our prayers.”
Indonesia’s nuclear authorities said on Monday (Feb 17) they would investigate the radioactive contamination of a patch of land in a housing complex outside Jakarta, and called for calm.
