Coronavirus: Joko Widodo orders cabinet to put hard sell on masks

President Joko Widodo has ­ordered his cabinet to launch a campaign to encourage mask-wearing in Indonesia.

Masks being worn at Poten temple during the Yadnya Kasada Festival in Probolinggo, East Java. Picture: Getty Images.

President Joko Widodo has ­ordered his cabinet to launch a campaign to encourage mask-wearing to ­reduce the spread of the coronavirus in Indonesia.

“For the next two weeks we should focus on campaigning for people to wear masks, and after that for another two weeks we will campaign on physical distancing or hand washing,” Mr Joko told his ministers.

Senior minister Muhadjir ­Effendi told local media on Tuesday that state institutions and ­regional administrations had been asked to purchase masks in bulk to support the initiative.

“The government wants everyone involved in this strategy. Awareness must be followed by action,” Mr Effendi said.

Indonesia has been struggling to contain the spread of COVID-19 across the archipelago. The total number of cases in the country topped 100,000 at the end of last month, with at least 5302 deaths so far. A phase three clinical trial for a COVID-19 vaccine is scheduled to start in Bandung, West Java, with more than 1000 volunteers.

A number of government ­officials, including West Java governor Ridwan Kamil, have said that they are willing to participate in the trial.

“When the leaders step up, Inshallah, the people will see that the vaccine trial is going ­smoothly,” he said. “The journey is still long … the testing period will be held until the end of the year. Hopefully by January 2021 the vaccine will be available for the public.”

Mr Kamil said as of now only 500 volunteers have registered and they needed a further 1100 people aged 20-59.

The vaccine being tested is developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech, who is working with Indonesia’s Bio Farma and Padjajaran University.