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Public donations for COVID-19 task force in Indonesia top Rp 66.5b
“We are grateful that the community, both as individuals and groups, has donated more than Rp 66.5 billion to date to the COVID-19 task force’s account in order to deal with this problem comprehensively,” Yurianto said at a press conference on Wednesday.
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Renowned Indonesian artists and public figures take part in a recent virtual music concert, #dirumahaja, to raise public donations to fight the pandemic. (Courtesy of Narasi TV/-)
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mid the spread of COVID-19 in Indonesia, the government’s rapid-response task force has received a total of more than Rp 66.5 billion (US$4 million) in cash donated from the public.
Government spokesperson for COVID-19-related matters Achmad Yurianto expressed his gratitude toward the public on behalf of the task force.
“We are grateful that the community, both as individuals and groups, has donated more than Rp 66.5 billion to date to the COVID-19 task force’s account in order to deal with this problem comprehensively,” Yurianto said at a press conference on Wednesday.
At Tuesday's conference, he also said that donations pooled in the National Disaster Mitigation Agency’s (BNPB) COVID-19 volunteer desk reached Rp 40 billion, adding that the donations would be used responsibly and reports on their use would be posted on the task force’s and agency’s respective websites.
Notably, conglomerate company Bakrie Group donated Rp 20 billion to the task force on Monday. On March 23 coal producer PT Adaro Energy also announced that it was donating Rp 20 billion to the BNPB.
On March 24, the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) pooled more than Rp 300 billion from its members, with the funds channeled directly to the BNPB, the COVID-19 rapid-response team, the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) and the Health Ministry.
Indonesian artists and celebrities collected about Rp 11.5 billion in donations through a virtual concert called #dirumahaja as of Tuesday through the crowdfunding site Kitabisa.com. Media company Narasi, which organized the concert, said that it would distribute the raised money independently, including to charity organizations.
In the press conference, Yurianto also said that the country recorded 1,677 cases of COVID-19 as of Wednesday with 157 fatalities and 103 recoveries, affecting 32 out of 34 provinces.
He also said that the government had distributed around 475,200 rapid test kits to every provincial health office for early detection and contact tracing, adding that it also had distributed 349,000 pieces of personal protective equipment for medical workers across the country.
