by The Associated Press
Last Updated May 6, 2021 at 3:25 am ADT
JAKARTA, Indonesia Indonesia is prohibiting travel during the popular homecoming period to celebrate Eid al-Fitr.
COVID-19 cases have been decreasing in the world’s most populous Muslim country, but the government imposed the ban after seeing a significant rise in the mortality rate last year after the Eid holiday marking the end of Ramadan.
The ban started Thursday and will last for 12 days, exempting only civil servants, police and military officers, and those who need to travel for work.
Indonesia has confirmed more than 1.6 million cases and 46,000 deaths from COVID-19, the largest totals in Southeast Asia.
By The Associated Press
BRUSSELS â The EUâs executive arm has proposed EU nations join forces to develop and deploy COVID-19 treatments across the 27-nation bloc.
The European Commission says vaccines will not eradicate coronavirus âovernightâ and efficient drugs will still be required to treat patients in hospitals or at home, including those with long-haul symptoms after COVID-19.
The Commission wants to set up a portfolio of 10 potential COVID-19 treatments with the aim of authorizing three new drugs by October to treat COVID-19. The executive branch says two more treatments could get approved by the end of the year.
The Commission says it will invest 90 million euros ($108 million) in studies and clinical trials and an extra 40 million euros ($48 million) to support manufacturing and access for COVID-19 drugs and treatments.
2021/05/06 10:25 In this photo provided by the Malacanang Presidential Photographers Division, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gestures after meeting with the Int. In this photo provided by the Malacanang Presidential Photographers Division, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gestures after meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) core members at the Malacanang presidential palace in Manila, Philippines Wednesday, May 5, 2021. The Philippine president has asked China to get back 1,000 doses of donated Sinopharm vaccine after facing criticisms for allowing himself to be injected with it although it has not yet been authorized for public use in the country. (Simeon Celi/Malacanang Presidential Photographers Division via AP)