Pamekasan, E Java (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI)-Pamekasan Chapter, Madura United Football Club, and Madura's Care for Indonesia Foundation (YMPI) donated 600 aid packages to local residents ailing from the impact of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
Some 200 aid packages, each containing three kilograms of rice, a liter of cooking oil, and four packs of instant noodles, were distributed to those in need at the front yard of the Madura United FC's headquarters in Pamekasan, East Java, on Saturday.
"This relief program is testament to our care for those severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic. We are upbeat about this move inspiring other community members in Pamekasan and other places," PT Polana Bola Madura Director Ziaul Haq Abdurrahim remarked.
In distributing the aid packages, the recipients were ordered to practice the Indonesian government's COVID-19 preventive measures, such as the recommended physical distancing and wearing face masks, he remarked.
In the meantime, volunteers directly handed out some 400 other aid packages to the recipients' houses, according to YMPI Head Umar Wahid.
The Madura United Football Club also donated 200 hand-washing devices and a thousand face masks to local mosques.
The coronavirus outbreak initially struck the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019, but it then spread to various parts of the world, including countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Indonesian government officially announced the country's first confirmed cases on March 2.
Since then, the central and regional governments nationwide have striven persistently to flatten the curve by imposing healthcare protocols and social restrictions.
In breaking the chain of this novel coronavirus disease that has impacted the purchasing power of numerous families in Indonesia, large-scale social restrictions are also applied in several other cities, including Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi.
The central government has also banned homebound travel, or locally known as "mudik," during the fasting month of the Ramadhan and Idul Fitri holiday seasons.
The ban will be in place until May 31, 2020, for land transportation; June 15, 2020, for railway transportation; June 8, 2020, for sea transportation; and, June 1, 2020, for air transportation.
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