"They come from various provinces -- right from Aceh to Papua -- with the highest from West Java, reaching some 5,900 people," Rahadian stated during an online press conference at the Graha BNPB office here on Thursday.
Rahadian pointed to the dire shortage of medical volunteers, especially doctors and nurses, faced by the country's emergency and referral hospitals treating COVID-19 patients.
Hence, Rahadian has invited all medical and non-medical volunteers to continue to register.
He called for more people to come forward to join to become medical and non-medical volunteers to help the nation fight the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Despite collaborating with several organizations, including Basnaz and KNPI, Rahadian also invited volunteers to register through the organization or through the volunteer desk at BNPB.
Training courses have been provided to non-medical volunteers constituting some 80 percent of the total volunteer force.
"We will and have already conducted training activities. Yesterday, some 250 people partook in the training conducted online. We are optimistic that these volunteers would work on the frontline to stop the spread of COVID-19 and help us in better tackling the COVID-19 crisis in future," Rahadian stated.
Most of those volunteers harbor a humanitarian spirit and a sense of mutual help.
"They see that this is a challenge that we must face together. This virus can infect anyone, so the sense of unity and integrity to help is huge," he affirmed. Related news: PKS urges government to save, protect Indonesian medical workers
Related news: Indonesia to produce 16,000 WHO-compliant PPEs per day
Translator: Arindra M, Fardah
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2020
